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TN295.U4 no. 9122 




86-600225 
TN295.U4 no. 9122 
Fogg, Catharine T 



001 

050 TN295.U4 no. 9122 [TN845] 

100 

245 Flake and high crystalline graphite avai labi 1 i ty- -market economy 

countries : a minerals availability appraisal / by Catharine T. 

Fogg and Edward H. Boyle, Jr. 

260 [Washington, DC?] : U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, 

[1987] 

300 vi , 40 p. : i 1 1 . ; 28 cm. 

490 Information circular ; 9122 

504 Bibliography: p. 38. 

086 I 28.27:9122 

650 Graphite. 

700 Boyle, Edward H. 

830 Information circular (United States. Bureau of Mines) 9122. 

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Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1987 



Flake and High-Crystalline 
Graphite Availability— Market 
Economy Countries 

A Minerals Availability Appraisal 

By Catharine T. Fogg and Edward H. Boyle, Jr. 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Information Circular 9122 



tJJVtsti* , Ixsmu 4^j^ 



Flake and High-Crystalline 
Graphite Availability— Market 
Economy Countries 

A Minerals Availability Appraisal 

By Catharine T. Fogg and Edward H. Boyle, Jr. 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
Donald Paul Hodel, Secretary 

BUREAU OF MINES 
Robert C. Horton, Director 



As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior 
has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural 
resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, 
protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environment and cultural values 
of our national parks and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of 
life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and 
mineral resources and works to assure that their development is in the best 
interests of all our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for 
American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island 
territories under U.S. administration. 



an 



q$ 



fM 







& 




Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 



Fogg, Catharine T. 

Flake and high-crystalline graphite availability— market economy 
countries. 

(Information circular ; 9122) 

Bibliography: p. 38 

Supt. of Docs. no. : I 28.27:9122 

1. Graphite. I. Boyle, Edward H. II. Title. III. Series: Information circular 
(United States. Bureau of Mines) ; 9122. 



TN295.U4 



[TN845] 



622 s 



[338.2726] 



86-600225 






PREFACE 



The Bureau of Mines is assessing the worldwide availability of selected minerals of economic 
significance, most of which are also critical minerals. The Bureau identifies, collects, compiles, 
and evaluates information on producing, developing, and explored deposits, and mineral processing 
plants worldwide. Objectives are to classify both domestic and foreign resources, to identify by 
cost evaluation those demonstrated resources that are reserves, and to prepare analyses of mineral 
availability. 

This report is one of a continuing series of reports that analyze the availability of minerals 
from domestic and foreign sources. Questions about, or comments on these reports should be 
addressed to Chief, Division of Minerals Availability, Bureau of Mines, 2401 E St., NW., 
Washington, DC 20241. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Preface iii 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 2 

Commodity overview 3 

Types of graphite 3 

Natural graphites 3 

Flake graphite 3 

High-crystalline graphite 3 

Amorphous graphite 3 

Synthetic graphites 3 

Graphite uses and modern trends 3 

Substitution 5 

U.S. consumption and imports 5 

World production 5 

Graphite specifications and pricing 7 

Specifications and grades 8 

Ash and other impurities 8 

Pricing structure 8 

Identified and demonstrated resources 9 

Africa 10 

Madagascar 10 

Manampotsy District identified resources . . 10 
Manampotsy District demonstrated and 

evaluated resources 12 

Resources in Ambtolampy and Ampanihy 

Districts 12 

Zimbabwe 12 

Asia 13 

India 13 

Republic of Korea 14 

Sri Lanka 15 

Europe 16 

Federal Republic of Germany 16 

Norway 16 

North America 16 

Canada 16 

Mexico 19 



Page 

United States 19 

Alaska 19 

New York 20 

Pennsylvania 20 

Texas 20 

Alabama 20 

Summary, U.S. flake graphite resources ... 22 

South America (Brazil) 22 

Summary, evaluated MEC demonstrated 

resources 22 

Methodology and price proportioning 23 

Mining methods and costs 24 

Producers 24 

Nonproducers 26 

Beneficiation methods and costs 26 

Producers 26 

High-crystalline graphite operations 26 

Flake graphite operations 26 

Nonproducers 28 

Total costs of production 29 

Producing mines 30 

Nonproducing deposits 30 

Transportation costs to ports or markets 31 

Capital costs, nonproducing deposits 31 

Availability analyses 32 

Graphite A 32 

Total availability 32 

Annual availability 33 

Graphite B 33 

Total availability 33 

Annual availability 35 

Summary and conclusions 37 

References 38 

Appendix A. - Sensitivity analyses: Economics of 

Alabama flake graphite deposits 39 

Appendix B. - Major CPEC graphite producers ... 40 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



1. Consumption of natural graphite in the United States, 1983 6 

2. U.S. imports for consumption of natural graphite, 1983 6 

3. World production of natural graphite, 1983 7 

4. Location of major graphite "lines" and districts, Madagascar 11 

5. Location of evaluated deposits in the Manampotsy District, Madagascar 11 

6. Location of graphite belts in India 13 

7. Republic of Korea: A, Outline of major geologic complexes; B, location of flake graphite deposits 14 

8. Location of high-crystalline graphite deposits in Sri Lanka 15 

9. Location of natural graphite areas, occurrences, and deposits in Canada and the United States 17 

10. Location of flake graphite areas and deposits in southern Quebec, southeastern Ontario, New York, and Penn- 

sylvania and of the Rhode Island meta-anthracites 18 

11. Location of the graphite belt in Alabama 21 

12. Total demonstrated resources, recoverable graphite A, and recoverable graphite B, by status and mine 

type 25 

13. Simplified plan and cross section of a typical mine in Madagascar 26 

14. Simplified flowsheet for a typical Madagascar operation 27 

15. Weighted-average production costs for total graphite products, by individual property 29 

16. Total graphite A potentially recoverable from producing mines and nonproducing deposits 32 

17. Potential annual availability of graphite A from producing mines and nonproducing deposits 34 

18. Total graphite B potentially recoverable from producing mines and nonproducing deposits 35 

19. Potential annual availability of graphite B from producing mines and nonproducing deposits 36 



VI 



TABLES 

1. Evaluated graphite properties and associated production status and ownership 2 

2. Types of natural graphite, summary data 4 

3. Types of synthetic graphite, summary data 4 

4. Consumption of natural graphite in the United States, by use, 1978 and 1983 5 

5. U.S. imports for consumption of flake graphite, 1980-83 6 

6. World production of natural graphite, by country 7 

7. U.S. national stockpile specifications for Madagascar flake graphite, circa 1970 8 

8. Market specifications for flake graphite, showing permissible tolerances, circa 1964 8 

9. Selected, published graphite prices, 1984 9 

10. Graphite prices, f.o.b. source, 1979-84 9 

11. Identified and demonstrated MEC resources of flake and high-crystalline graphite, by country, 1984 .... 10 

12. Demonstrated resources of evaluated graphite properties, Manampotsy District, Madagascar, 1984 12 

13. Flake graphite resources in India of probable economic significance 14 

14. Demonstrated flake graphite resources of the Republic of Korea 15 

15. Flake graphite deposits of possible future significance, southeastern Ontario and southern Quebec, Canada 19 

16. Flake graphite production data for the United States, 1889-1977 19 

17. Tonnage assignments to individual proposed milling units, Alabama graphite area 22 

18. Estimates of identified and demonstrated U.S. resources of flake graphite ore 22 

19. Comparison of feed capacities and weighted-average mill operating costs for producing flake graphite mills, 

by market groupings 27 

20. Specifications for Madagascar graphite products 27 

21. Graphite concentrate grades during various stages of flotation for producing flake graphite milling operations 28 

22. Range, weighted-average, and component percentages of total costs, by country or geographic area 30 

23. Total capital cost estimates for nonproducing flake graphite properties, selected countries 31 

24. Annual ore capacity, total recoverable demonstrated resources, and total recoverable graphite products, by 

country and status 33 

A-l. Summary of sensitivity analyses for economics of Alabama flake graphite deposits, at a 15-pct DCFROR 39 





UNIT OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT 


°c 


degree Celsius 


Mmt 


million metric tons 


cm 


centimeter 


mt 


metric ton 


g 


gram 


mt/d 


metric ton per day 


ha 


hectare 


mt/m 3 


metric ton per cubic meter 


kg 


kilogram 


mt/yr 


metric ton per year 


km 


kilometer 


pet 


percent 


km 2 


square kilometer 


St 


short ton 


m 


meter 


st/yr 


short ton per year 


min 


minute 


$/mt 


dollar per metric ton 


mm 


millimeter 


wt pet 


weight percent 


^m 


micrometer 


yr 


year 



FLAKE AND HIGH-CRYSTALLINE GRAPHITE AVAILABILITY- 
MARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES 



A Minerals Availability Appraisal 



By Catharine T. Fogg 1 and Edward H. Boyle, Jr. 1 



ABSTRACT 



The Bureau of Mines investigated the availability of flake and high- 
crystalline natural graphite from 4 domestic and 25 foreign mines and deposits 
in 11 market economy countries (MEC's). Demonstrated resources were estimated 
to be 95 million metric tons (Mmt) containing 5.61 Mmt of recoverable flake and 
high-crystalline graphite products. Fifty-five percent (3.17 Mmt) of the total 
recovered product is estimated to comprise plus 100-mesh (150-/jm) flake pro- 
ducts and "lump" and "chip" high-crystalline products, designated as "graphite 
A" in this study; 45 pet (2.44 Mmt) of the total is minus 100-mesh (150-/mi) flake 
products and "dust" high-crystalline products, designated as "graphite B." Total 
production costs, including all costs needed over the life of each operation, were 
determined at a 0- and 15-pct discounted-cash-flow rate of return (DCFROR) for 
both graphite A and graphite B products. For a 15-pct DCFROR, 1.74 Mmt (54.9 
pet) of the graphite A products is available at $600/mt or less and 2.13 Mmt 
(67.2 pet) is available for $800/mt or less. For the same DCFROR, 1.08 Mmt (44.3 
pet) of the graphite B is available at $200/mt or less, and 1.71 Mmt (70 pet) is 
available at $325/mt or less. No domestic resources were determined to be 
economic at present prices. A sensitivity analysis of the relative economics of 
the Alabama graphite deposits under various operational parameters is 
presented in an appendix. All evaluations are in January 1984 dollars. 

'Physical scientist, Minerals Availability Field Office, Bureau of Mines, Denver, CO. 



INTRODUCTION 



Graphite, a mineral form of elemental carbon, occurs 
naturally as three basic types: flake, high-crystalline, and 
amorphous. All have a crystalline structure, though "amor- 
phous" graphite is a carbonaceous material with a very low 
degree of order in a microcrystalline structure. Synthetic 
graphites, which also are produced in three basic forms, 
have a higher degree of purity and lower crystallinity than 
natural graphites. They primarily serve different markets 
and are more expensive to produce than natural graphites, 
though there is some overlap in usage. 

This Bureau of Mines report focuses mainly on two of 
the three types of natural graphite: flake and high- 
crystalline. Resources of amorphous graphite are abundant 
worldwide, and the United States obtains most of its sup- 
ply from neighboring Mexico. U.S. national stockpile goals 
for strategic natural graphite do not include amounts for 
amorphous graphite. This report does include some data on 
amorphous production, and one large amorphous graphite 
property— the Lourdes operation in Mexico— was in- 
vestigated, but not included in the availability analysis. 

Identified resources of flake and high-crystalline natural 
graphite from 10 market economy countries (MEC's) 2 are 

2 Market economy countries are defined as all countries that are not con- 
sidered centrally planned economy countries (CPEC's). Albania, Bulgaria, 
China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, 
Kampuchea, Laos, Mongolia, North Korea, Poland, Romania, the U.S.S.R., 
and Viet Nam are CPEC's. 



discussed in detail. The demonstrated resource tonnages 
analyzed for economics and availability in this study are 
limited to 16 Alabama flake graphite properties (which have 
been grouped into 4 proposed milling complexes for 
analysis), 21 foreign flake graphite properties, and 4 Sri 
Lankan high-crystalline, vein-type graphite properties. 
These deposits, along with their current status, mining 
methods, and ownerships, are summarized in table 1. In ad- 
dition, the text includes discussion of additional flake 
graphite properties in New York, Pennsylvania, and Alaska 
that were not included in the availability analyses. 

Because of the extreme price ranges for many different 
products available in the flake and high-crystalline graphite 
markets, it was necessary for economic analyses to classify 
each of the marketable products from the properties into 
one of two basic product categories, termed "graphite A" 
and "graphite B" for this study. 

Graphite A, as designated for this report, consists of the 
larger, more valuable plus 100-mesh (150-ptm) flake and plus 
100-mesh "lump" and "chip" high-crystalline products. 
Graphite B, on the other hand, includes flake and "dust" 
high-crystalline products of minus 100-mesh size. The 
availability determinations obtained in this study can be 
used in the development of domestic minerals policy and 
mineral stockpile assessment. 



Table 1 .—Evaluated graphite properties and associated production status and ownership 



Continent, country, and property name Production 

Africa: 
Madagascar: 

Ambatomitamba P 

Andasifahatelo P 

Antsirakambo P 

Faliarano P 

Marovintsy P 

Sahamamy P 

Sahanavo N 

Tsaravoniany N 

Zimbabwe: Lynx Mine P 

Asia: 

India: Temrimal P 

Korea, Republic of: 

Gun Ja P 

Pyong Taek P 

Yong Un N 

Sri Lanka: 

Bogala P 

Kahatagaha-Kolongaha P 

Ragedera P 

Rangala P 

Europe: 

Germany, Federal Republic of: Kropfmuhl P 

Norway: Skaland P 

North America: 

Brazil: 

Itapecerica P 

Pedra Azul P 

Canada: 

Bouthillier N 

Deep Bay N 

Notre Dame Du Laus P 

Mexico: Telixtlahuaca Mine P 

United States: 3 

Alabama Mill 1 N 

Alabama Mill 2 N 

Alabama Mill 3 N 

Alabama Mill 4 N 

'N nonproducer, P producer. 

2 S surface, U underground. 

'Proposed milling complexes to receive ore feed from 16 individual proposed mines. 



Mining 
method 2 



Ownership 



S 
S 

S/U 

S 

S/U 

s 

s 
s 
s 
s 



Soc. Miniere de la Grande lie. 
Soc. Arsene Louys et Compagnie. 
Etablissements Gallois. 
Etablissements R. Izouard. 
Etablissements Gallois. 
Etablissements Rostaing. 
Soc. Miniere de la Grande lie. 
Etablissments R. Izouard. 
I.D.C. Zimbabwe and Kropfmuhl A/G. 



Agrawal Graphite Industries. 

Dae Han Graphite Mining Co. 
Pyong-Taek Graphite Mining. 
Republic of Korea. 

Sri Lanka Government (SMMDC). 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 



Grafitwerk Kropfmuhl A/G. 
Atlantic Richfield Co. 



CIA Nacional de Grafite, Ltd. 
Do. 

Orrwell Energy Corp., Ltd. 
Superior Graphite Co. 
Asbury Carbon, Inc. 
Mexican Government. 

International Carbon and Minerals. 
Various owners. 

Do. 

Do. 



COMMODITY OVERVIEW 



Graphite is a soft, black, naturally occurring form of car- 
bon with a hardness of 2 on the Moh's scale and a specific 
gravity between 2.1 and 2.3. It resists attack by chemical 
reagents, is infusible in most common fluxes, has high elec- 
trical conductivity and the fifth highest thermal conductiv- 
ity of any material, has a high melting point of 3,650° C, 
and has a low coefficient of friction. These properties have 
enhanced its use in the manufacture of crucibles, graphite- 
bonded magnesia refractory bricks, and graphite-alumina 
applications in the steel industry. Its high electrical con- 
ductivity is essential for use in the manufacturing of car- 
bon brushes for electric motors and of batteries. Its low coef- 
ficient of friction makes it suitable for use as a lubricant, 
in foundry facings, and as an ingredient in paint. 



TYPES OF GRAPHITE 
Natural Graphites 

In the graphite industry, natural graphite is classified 
into three types: flake, high-crystalline, and amorphous. 
These are subdivided into numerous grades for commercial 
purposes on the basis of such factors as graphite content, 
particle size, and types of impurities. 

Flake Graphite 

Flake graphite consists of isolated, flat, platelike par- 
ticles with angular, rounded, or irregular edges. It is usually 
found disseminated in layers or as lenses or pockets in 
metamorphic rocks. In some deposits, the flake graphite oc- 
curs as massive accumulations in veins, lenses, or podlike 
forms. It is thought to be derived from the metamorphism 
of methane and fine droplets of crude oil that have been 
disseminated throughout the sedimentary rocks prior to 
metamorphism. 

Historically, flake graphite has been produced in only 
a few countries— Madagascar, the United States, Federal 
Republic of Germany, Norway, Republic of Korea, India, 
and Canada— and there has been a low degree of inter- 
changeability between graphites of different origins. Thus, 
once a suitable grade for a particular application was found, 
the consumer tended to draw from that source only. Today, 
according to Industrial Minerals (l), 3 most consumers tend 
toward the blending of graphites from different sources in 
order to reduce their dependence on any particular source. 
As a result, new producing countries, such as China, Brazil, 
Mexico, and Zimbabwe, have entered the market within the 
last 10 to 20 yr. 

High-Crystalline Graphite 

High-crystalline (vein-type) graphite occurs in fissure 
veins, fractures, and other cavities in igneous or metamor- 
phic rocks, generally of Precambrian age. The graphite 
veins range from thin films to massive bodies more than 
3 m thick, and the particle size ranges from fine grains to 
large lumps of up to 10-cm diam, though the most common 
sizes of final products are 5-cm diam and smaller. High- 

3 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to items in the list of references 
preceding the appendixes at the end of this report. 



crystalline graphite is also thought to be formed from crude 
oil during metamorphism. 

The country of Sri Lanka has accounted for nearly all 
of the high-crystalline graphite produced in the past, 
although deposits are known in the United States (Montana) 
and in India and Brazil. The Sri Lankan deposits are 
estimated to average 95 pet graphite in situ, with ranges 
as high as 98 to 99 pet. The major consumption of high- 
crystalline graphite is in manufacturing carbon brushes, 
batteries, seals, and gaskets, with very minor use in refrac- 
tory and friction products. 

Amorphous Graphite 

Amorphous graphite is formed by the thermal metamor- 
phism of coal seams. Though actually crystalline in struc- 
ture (as are all natural graphites), amorphous graphite has 
a very low degree of order in a microcrystalline structure. 
Countries that produce large quantities of amorphous 
graphite are China, Mexico, Austria, Republic of Korea, and 
North Korea, with the Sonoran deposits in Mexico 
historically providing the majority of U.S. supply. It is com- 
mon to confuse the very finest sizes of flake and high- 
crystalline graphite with amorphous graphite. 

Synthetic Graphites 

The terms "manufactured," "artificial," "electric- 
furnace," and "synthetic" are all used to describe synthetic 
graphites. There are three major types of synthetic 
graphites: primary (electrographite), secondary, and 
graphite fibers. Primary synthetic graphite has extremely 
high (essentially pure) carbon content, is produced from 
petroleum coke in electric furnaces, and is used mainly for 
graphite electrodes and carbon brushes. Secondary syn- 
thetic graphite (powder and scrap) more closely resembles 
the natural graphites in terms of purity but has a lower 
density, higher electrical resistance, and higher porosity. 
Graphite fibers are used mostly for aerospace and sporting 
goods applications. 

Tables 2 and 3 summarize some general information on 
various forms of natural and synthetic graphites and ma- 
jor uses. Synthetic graphites basically serve different 
markets and are more expensive; therefore, there is very 
limited overlapping with natural graphite markets. 



GRAPHITE USES AND MODERN TRENDS 

The graphite market is one of the most complex markets 
in the industrial minerals segment. Graphite is a strategic 
mineral to the United States, primarily because of present 
U.S. dependency on foreign sources and the extensive use 
of graphite products in the refractory industry and in 
manufacturing crucibles for steelmaking. 

The market is subject to changes. For example, for many 
years prior to the 1920's, the U.S. crucible industry con- 
sidered Ceylon (Sri Lanka) lump and chip high-crystal 1 me 
graphite as absolutely essential to crucible production. 
However, in 1907, the first flake graphite operation in 
Madagascar was begun; the introduction of flotation to 
Madagascar operations in the early 1920's caused an enor- 



Table 2.— Types of natural graphite, summary data 

Flake High-crystalline 

Size Flake: Coarse, -20 to +100 mesh; powder: fine Large lump of 7.5 to 10 cm; most in 4-cm size 

flake, -100 to -325 mesh. range, also chips and dust. 

Geological origin Regional metamorphism of sedimentary deposits. Occurs in fissure veins, and fractures. Possible 

base raw material is crude oil. 

Mining methods Varied. Surface mining for 10 pet C or less, Underground. 

underground mining for 10 to 26 pet C. 

Processing methods . . . Crushing, grinding, flotation, tabling, regrinding, Hand sorting, mechanicai sizing, 
and refloating as necessary. Filtering, drying, 
sizing, blending and bagging. 

Product grade 75 to around 97 pet C. Concentrates of 98 to Very high purity, sometimes 98 to 99.9 pet C in 

99.9 pet C are obtained through chemical- nature. 

thermal process. 

Major producing 

countries Madagascar, Mexico, Republic of Korea, India, Sri Lanka. 

Brazil, Federal Republic of Germany, Norway, 
Zimbabwe, China, the U.S.S.R., and North 
Korea. 

Major uses Production of crucibles, retorts, stoppers, Carbon brush industry and friction products 

sleeves, nozzles. Refractory industry, lubrica- 
tion industry and foundry facings. 



Amorphous 
Microcrystalline 

Metamorphism of coal 
beds 

Surface 

Crushing, sizing 1 

60 to 90 pet C 



Mexico, Republic of 
Korea, China, Italy, 
Austria, U.S.S.R., and 
Czechoslovakia 

Refractory industry, car- 
bon brush, carbon 
seal industry, elec- 
trode industry, paint, 
and foundry industry. 



1 Flotation is reported to be used in processing some Austrian amorphous graphites but is a notable exception to the norm. 



Table 3.— Types of synthetic graphite, summary data 1 



Secondary artificial 
graphite 

Basic raw materials Calcined petroleum coke . . . 

Processing methods Heat treating to 

temperatures of +2,800° 
C, no additives 

Major uses Electric furnaces, electrolytic 

anodes, brushes 



Primary 
(electrographite) 



Graphite fibers 



Pyrolitic carbons and 
graphites 



Calcined petroleum coke, 
coal tar pitch. 

Crushing, sizing, blending, 
extrusion, baking, and 
graphitization process. 2 

In the hot metal industry 
where it is used as a car- 
bon raiser, composites 
and chemical applications. 



Polyacrilonitrile fibers, pitch. Methane or natural gas. 



Pyrolizing raw materials at 
700 to 1,400° C then 
heating to 2,800° C in 
electric furnace. 

In composites for aircraft, 
aerospace, and sporting 
goods industries. 



Chemical vapor deposition 
techniques in a vacuum 
furnace at 2,000° C or 
more 

Aerospace — rocket exhaust 
system insulating liners. 



''Adapted from Kenan (2). 

2 Natural amorphous graphite sometimes added to the process. 



mous increase in production that initiated the trend of the 
Madagascar flake graphite displacing the Sri Lankan prod- 
ucts in the crucible industry. 

One of the major uses of flake graphite is in crucible 
manufacturing for the foundry melting of steel, nonferrous 
metals, and for the precious metals industry. In making 
traditional clay-graphite crucibles, Madagascar flake prod- 
ucts are the preferred raw material because of their high 
proportion of coarse-sized flakes. However, over the past 2 
yr or so, the traditional clay-graphite crucible usage has 
been superseded in use by the silicon carbon-graphite cruci- 
ble for many uses. In making the traditional clay-graphite 
crucibles, about 45 pet of the crucible is comprised of large- 
flake, 85-pct-C graphite. With the silicon carbide-graphite 
crucible, only about 30 pet of the crucible is comprised of 
80-pct-C flake graphite, with flakes only about half the size 
of those used for clay-graphite crucibles. The result is that, 
at present, the crucible mix of world markets relies on many 
more sources than in the past (1). 

Similarly, over the past 20 yr, the refractories industry 
has changed from using predominantly large-flake, 85-pct- 
C Madagascar graphite to using a variety of blended 
graphites with smaller flake sizes and an optimum carbon 
content of 87 to 90 pet. A recent development in the graphite 
refractories industry has been the introduction of magnesia- 



carbon bricks for use in steel furnace linings and the 
development of alumina-carbon (graphitized aluminas) 
refractories. The thermal shock and erosion resistance of 
these refractories are improved by the addition of graphite; 
however, to meet the stringent requirements for brick per- 
formance, mag-carbon refractory manufacturers require the 
graphite to fall within particular parameters. For the 
electric-arc steel manufacturing method in United Kingdom 
furnaces, the carbon content of the mag-carbon bricks may 
be as high as 15 to 20 pet, and the typical brick life is 500 
casts. In Japan, mag-carbon bricks generally contain 20 to 
25 pet C, improving the brick life to 1,000 casts. 

The use of graphitized aluminas in the process of con- 
tinuous casting in steel production improves the corrosion 
resistance and thermal shock resistance of alumina refrac- 
tories. The graphitized alumina refractories are essentially 
used to control and protect the metal flowing from the ladle 
to the water-cooled mold. As with all uses of graphites, the 
composition and texture of alumina-graphite refractories 
varies enormously depending on the graphite sources, the 
end use of the refractory, and the manufacturers' particular 
recipe. Most manufacturers use graphite with a minimum 
carbon content of 85 pet and flake size ranges of minus 30 
to plus 100 mesh. 



Flake graphite "powders" (minus 100- to minus 
325-mesh flake sizes) are used in brake and clutch linings, 
carbon brushes, sintering (powder metallurgy), and as 
lubricants. Graphite powders in these uses generally must 
have a minimum of 95 to 99 pet C. Those used in dry-cell 
battery manufacturing usually grade 88 pet C (1). Powders 
with low carbon content (70 to 75 pet or less) are used in 
the foundry industry and in the making of conductive 
coatings and paints. 

SUBSTITUTION 

Anthracite coal, coke, petroleum coke, and used carbon 
electrodes are common substitutes for graphite as a carbon 
raiser in steelmaking. Other substitutes are possible when 
they can compete in terms of price and supply: Calcined coke 
and other carbon materials are satisfactory substitutes for 
graphite for certain foundry core and mold washer, and 
molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) could replace graphite in 
lubrication uses. Silicides, nitrides, borides, and other high- 
temperature refractories could also substitute for graphite 
in those uses, but at a higher cost. 



U.S. CONSUMPTION AND IMPORTS 

Natural graphite is classified as a strategic mineral in 
the United States owing to its use in the refractory and 
crucible industries, as well as to the country's dependency 
upon a few foreign sources, particularly Madagascar and 
Sri Lanka. As of December 31, 1984, the stockpile contained 
16,157 mt of Madagascar flake graphite, 4,937 mt of Sri 
Lanka "amorphous lump" (high-crystalline) graphite, and 
1,753 mt of flake graphite from countries other than 
Madagascar (3). These tonnages represented 89.2, 86.4, and 
69.0 pet, respectively, of the stockpile goals (3). 

Table 4 gives U.S. natural graphite consumption values 
for the years 1978 and 1983, and figure 1 shows 1983 con- 
sumption of amorphous and flake graphite by various in- 
dustrial uses (4). Based on these data, the following impor- 
tant statistical points can be made: 

1. Total U.S. consumption decreased 35 pet from 1978 
to 1983, with a decline from 66,000 st (60,000 mt) to 43,000 
st (39,000 mt). 

2. U.S. consumption of flake graphite in the seven 
major industrial use categories shown in table 4 increased 
48 pet from 10,500 st (9,524 mt) in 1978 to 15,500 st (14,059 
mt) in 1983. This 5,000-st increase has essentially been due 
to an increase from 2,000 to 7,000 st in use by the refrac- 



tories industry; a 1,000-st increase in use by the lubricant 
industry was effectively offset by a 1,000-st decrease in use 
in crucible, retort, stopper, sleeve, and nozzle 
manufacturing. 

3. U.S. consumption of amorphous graphite in the six 
major industrial use categories shown in table 4 decreased 
52 pet, from 44,5000 st (40,360 mt) in 1978 to only 21,500 
st (19,500 mt) in 1983. This decline resulted from decreases 
in use of 9,000 st by the steelmaking industry, 7,000 st by 
the foundry industry, and 5,000 st by the refractory 
industry. 

Two major trends in U.S. consumption of natural 
graphite can be inferred from the above data: 

1. The decline in use of amorphous graphite in the 
steelmaking and foundry industries is mostly due to in- 
creased imports of steel and of iron and steel castings into 
the United States and changes in U.S. economic activity. 

2. The refractories and lubricants industries are using 
more flake graphite. 

Table 5 shows U.S. imports for consumption of flake 
graphite for the years 1980-83. As shown, 1983's import 
level of 7,034 st was essentially the same as that in 1980, 
but 35 pet below the 1982 level of 10,771 st. The average 
for the 4-yr period is close to 9,000 st/yr (8,163 mt), and the 
total of 35,984 st (32,637 mt) for the 4-yr period has been 
mostly provided by Brazil (36 pet), China (26 pet) and 
Madagascar (22 pet). Of particular note is that imports from 
China have increased 16-fold since 1980 following the nor- 
malization of the diplomatic and trade relationships be- 
tween the United States and China. 

Not shown in table 5 are imports of 751 st (681 mt) of 
high-crystalline graphite from Sri Lanka in 1983 and 25,677 
st (23,289 mt) of amorphous graphite, 84.7 pet of which was 
imported from Mexico (3). 

Figure 2 shows U.S. import percentage shares, by coun- 
try, of flake graphite products in 1983. It is important to 
note that 96 pet of U.S. imports were from only three 
countries— China, Brazil, and Madagascar— with 52 pet 
from China alone. 



WORLD PRODUCTION 

Table 6, which is based on Bureau data, shows a 61-pct 
increase in total world production of all three types of 
natural graphite from 1967 to 1983; however, the actual 
world production increase is probably significantly lower, 
as table 6 does not include production data for 
Czechoslovakia, India, or North Korea for 1967. Over half 



Table 4.— Consumption of natural graphite in the United States, by use, 1978 and 1983 (3) 

Estimated consumption, 10 3 st 1 



Pet of total Flake and 

Uses consumption high-crystalline 

1978 1983 1978 1983 

Refractories 24 37 2 7 

Foundries 21 16 1 1 

Lubricants 6 8 12 

Steelmaking 18 7 

Brake linings 6 7 11 

Crucibles, retorts, 

stoppers, sleeves, 

nozzles 5 5 3 

Pencils 3 5 1.5 1.5 

Batteries 3 5 W W 

Others _14 10 NAp NAp 

Total 10° 1°°. !^P NAp 

NAp Not applicable. W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. 

1 Use of short tons to conform to original source. 



Amorphous 



1978 



14 
13 

3 
11 

3 



NAp 
.5 
W 

NAp 



NAp 



1983 



NAp 
.3 
W 

NAp 



NAp 



Total 



1978 



16 
14 

4 
12 

4 



66 



1983 



16 
7 
4 
3 
3 



43 



14 



ro 



I- 
Q_ 

to 

z 
o 
o 



10 



KEY 

LV.V.VJ 

[: : :j:-:-Xj Amorphous 



Flake and high-crystalline 




JL 



■ ■ 




Steel- 
making 



Refractories Foundries Lubricants 

FIGURE 1 .—Consumption of natural graphite in the United States, 1983. 



Brake 
lining 



Crucibles 



Pencils 



Botteries 
and others 






Others 
2 pet 



Table 5.— U.S. imports for consumption of flake graphite, 
1980-83, short tons (3) 1 

Country 1980 1981 1982 1983 Total 

Brazil 2,921 4,606 3,794 1,642 12,963 

China 228 1,536 4,003 3,684 9,451 

India 55 386 211 116 768 

Madagascar... 2,011 1,955 2,467 1,486 7,919 

Others* 1,973 2,508 296 106 4,883 

Total... 7,188 10,991 10,771 7,034 35,984 

'Use of short tons to conform to original source rounding, 
includes Canada, France, Federal Republic of Germany, and other coun- 
tries that contributed to the annual total in the original references. 



of the total production increase during this time period was 
from China, which saw a 520-pct estimated increase from 
1967 to 1983. 

In addition to China, Brazil, the U.S.S.R., and Zimbabwe 
had significant production increases from 1967 to 1983, 
while Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea showed signifi- 
cant declines. Other major producers, including the Federal 
Republic of Germany, Mexico, Madagascar, and Norway, 
showed only slight production changes during this period. 

Figure 3 shows percentages, by country, of total world 
natural graphite production in 1983. The amount shown 
for India (2.1 pet) reflects conversion of Indian run-of-mine 
product ion (see table 6) to an estimated marketable product 
tonnage value. 







Total = 6,381 mt 

FIGURE 2.— U.S. imports for consumption of natural 
graphite, 1983. 



Table 6.— World production of natural graphite, by country, tons (3, 5-6) 

(Metric tons) 

Country 1967 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 

Brazil (marketable) 2,895 10,865 21,290 17,495 15,410 19954 

China 1 29,994 182,307 159,632 184,121 185,028 185,028 

Czechoslovakia 1 NA 44,987 50,883 50,883 50,883 50,883 

Germany, Federal 11,851 3,671 5,687 8,185 11,650 9,998 
Republic of 

India (run-of-mine) 2 NA 52,810 54,946 72,776 52,366 35,010 

Korea, North 1 NA 25,396 25,396 25,396 25,396 25,396 

Korea, Republic of: , 

Amorphous 363,868 1 54,228 59,145 34,042 26,333 32,564 

Flake ' { 2,453 1,429 842 627 695 

Madagascar 14,887 14,239 12,250 13,331 15,351 13,545 

Mexico: 

Amorphous 40,682 50,870 44,497 41,134 34,363 42,660 

Flake NAp NAp 348 1,152 1,804 1,658 

Norway 7,556 11,890 10,404 8,664 7,449 8,059 

Sri Lanka 10,365 9,400 7,792 7,572 8,802 5,528 

U.S.S.R. 1 64,987 99,770 79,816 69,839 75,281 79,816 

United States W W NAp NAp NAp NAp 

Zimbabwe NAp 5,736 7,384 11,216 8,223 7,982 

Others" 36,030 57,682 55,662 43,077 44,452 58,980 

Total 283,115 626,304 596,561 589,725 563,418 577,756 

NA Not available. NAp Not applicable. W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. 

1 Estimated. All metric ton values for these countries have been converted from original estimates in short tons and have not been rounded to the same signifi- 
cant figure as the original estimates. 
Marketable product probably at about 33 pet of run-of-mine output. 
3 No differentiation by type for 1967. 
"Includes Argentina, Austria, Burma, Italy, Romania, Republic of South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey. 



Sri Lanka, I.O pct\ 






Zimbabwe, I 4 pet ^ \y^^ 






Norway, I 5 pet \^ _>V\\ 
Fed Rep of Germany/N/v \ \ 
I 8 pet \_A* \\ 


Others 
10.6 pet 




India, 2. 1 pet ^^A^*" x^ \\ 






Madagascar — J~^ ^^^ \. 

2.4 pet A^^^^^O 
/ Brazil" -^_2~ 
| 3.6 pet ^"- 




China 
33.4 pet 


North Korea 
I 4.6 pct____^----- 






V"~Republic of . 
\ Korea ./ 
\ 6.0 pet/ 






V/^ Mexico 
\ 8.0 pet 




USSR 
14.4 pet 


Nv/Czechoslovakia 
^v. 9.2 pet 





Total = 554,229 mt 
FIGURE 3.— World production of natural graphite, 1983. 

The data in table 6 do not distinguish (except for the 
Republic of Korea and Mexico) between flake, high- 
crystalline, and amorphous production. Because this study 



only addresses the availability of flake and high-crystalline 
graphite in MEC's, a perspective on the relative coverage 
provided by this study can only be gained by estimating 
the relative proportions of flake and high-crystalline and 
amorphous production in the MEC's and the CPEC's. 

By (1) subtracting the amorphous production shown in 
table 6 for the Republic of Korea and Mexico, (2) subtract- 
ing 100 pet of the "others" category in table 6 as represent- 
ing amorphous production, and (3) subtracting an estimated 
25 pet of Soviet production, and an estimated 75 pet of 
China's, Czechoslovakia's, and North Korea's as represent- 
ing amorpous production in those four CPEC countries, the 
result is an approximate 227,000 mt of estimated total 1983 
world production of flake and high-crystalline graphite pro- 
duction of which 102,000 mt would be MEC production and 
125,000 mt would be CPEC production. Of the 102,000 mt 
of MEC production, only about one-third of India's run-of- 
mine production tonnage would represent marketable prod- 
ucts; hence, total 1983 MEC production of flake and high- 
crystalline graphite would total only about 79,000 mt of 
marketable products. 

Overall, the properties evaluated in this report are 
estimated to account for approximately 70,000 mt (88.6 pet) 
of 1983 MEC production of flake and high-crystalline 
graphite. The balance is almost entirely represented by a 
large number of Indian properties (representing the bulk 
of Indian production) which were not evaluated due to the 
time and monetary constraints. 



GRAPHITE SPECIFICATIONS AND PRICING 



The wide variety of graphite products available and the 
annual renegotiation of prices for individual products have 
contributed to an extremely complex pricing structure, such 
that prices may vary widely even for products derived from 
the same source. The following sections present a brief over- 
view of graphite grades and specifications and different pric- 
ing methods in use today. 



As a result of the variations in specifications and price 
structure presented in the following sections and com- 
parison with the available data on various products from 
individual producing properties, it was determined that a 
two-tier product-pricing arrangement, deemed "graphitt A 
and "graphite B", would be most applicable to economic 
analysis for the purposes of this study. Essentially, graphite 



A products of this study comprise all flake and high- 
crystalline products with 75 to 100 pet of the flakes in the 
product either plus 80- or plus 100-mesh in size, and 
graphite B products are those with 75 to 100 pet of the flakes 
in the product either minus 80- or minus 100-mesh in size. 4 
The economics and availability sections of this report are 
presented in terms of graphite A and graphite B. 



SPECIFICATIONS AND GRADES 

The most current U.S. national stockpile purchase 
specifications (circa 1970) for flake graphite from 
Madagascar are comprised of two main grades— "flake" and 
"fines." The Department of Commerce specifies that a 
representative, 50-g sample of Madagascar flake graphite, 
agitated for 15 min on a Tyler Ro-Tap 5 sieve shaker (or 
equivalent) machine shall conform to this analysis when 
tested by U.S. standard sieves (7). Table 7 presents the 1970 
stockpile specifications for crucible use, showing the size 
range and purity for these categories. 

Table 7.— U.S. national stockpile specifications for 
Madagascar flake graphite, circa 1970 (7) 

Sieve size' Passing sieve, 

wt pet 

Flake (85 pet C): 2 

No. 8 Min. 99 

No. 20 Max. 92 

No. 30 Max. 66 

No. 40 Max. 25 

No. 50 Max. 5 

No. 60 Max. 3 

Fines (82 pet C): 3 

No. 40 Min. 15 

No. 50 Max. 24 

No. 70 Max. 8 

'U.S. standard sieve. 

2 Basic description: Minus No. 20, plus No. 60. 

3 8asic description: Minus No. 40, plus No. 70. 

The circa 1970 U.S. national stockpile specifications for 
"amorphous lump" (high-crystalline) graphite from Sri 
Lanka are as follows: 

(1) Minimum graphite carbon content of 97 pet C; 

(2) No lumps exceeding 12.5 cm diam; 

(3) At least 90 pet retained on a No. 10 U.S. standard 
sieve and at least 97 pet retained on a No. 6 U.S. standard 
sieve; and 

(4) Lumps should not be dull, hard, or "cokey" in ap- 
pearance and should not contain tough needle or flaky 
crystal formations (7). 

In present markets Sri Lankan high-crystalline graphite 
is classified as lump, chip, and dust. Lump size ranges from 
4 to 1 cm diam, chip from 1 to 0.33 cm diam, and dust 
represents graphite product sizes of minus 60 mesh. 

Table 8 shows market specifications for four grades of 
flake graphite as established in the early 1960's by Metals 
Reserve, U.S.A. (8). Since these specifications were pub- 
lished over two decades ago, several market changes have 
occurred that appear to outdate them for certain grades: 

The variability in mesh-size specifications here exists due to different siz- 
ing practices at different operations. Of the numerous individually identified 
products comprising the graphite A and graphite B categories used for this 
study, only three were "borderline" cases in which only 50 to 75 pet of the 
flakes were retained or passed on 80- or 100-mesh screens. Two of these pro- 
ducts were designated as graphite A, the other as graphite B. It should be 
noted that no definitive criteria were, or have been, proposed for use in speci- 
fying whether these "borderline" products should actually be classified in 
either category. 

''Reference to specific products does not imply endorsement by the Bureau 
of Mines. 



Table 8.— Market specifications for flake graphite, showing 
permissible tolerances, 1 circa 1964 



Size 
Grade tolerance 

permissible, 
pet 



U.S. standard screen analysis Graphitic 
Mesh size Amount, wt pet net" 



Use 



±5 Plus 30 

Plus 40 

Plus 50 

±10 Plus 70 



±10 Plus 100 



Dust 



Minus 100. . 



15 
20 
60 
90 



90 



100 



85 


Crucibles. 


85 


Crucibles 




and 




lubricants. 


80 


Lubricants, 




electrodes, 




pencils, 




foundry 




facings, 




and paint. 


65 


Dust for 




foundry 




facings, 




munitions. 



1 As established by Metals Reserve, U.S.A. (8). 

1. Grades 1 and 2 (table 8) are specified for use in clay- 
graphite crucibles (requiring 85 pet C, as noted earlier); 
however, silicon carbide-graphite crucibles, which have 
begun to replace the clay-graphite crucibles, can use 80-pct- 
C flake products and smaller sized flakes. 

2. The trend is now toward the use of higher grade 
graphite products in markets that formerly used grades 2 
and 3 (table 8). For example, the refractories industry now 
requires carbon grades of at least 85 pet C, and optimum 
grades of 87 to 90 pet C are needed for the production of 
mag-carbon bricks (i). 

3. Similarly, the flake powders used in brake and clutch 
linings, carbon brushes, sintering (powder metallurgy), and 
lubricants generally must have minimum grades of 95 to 
99 pet C, and graphite used in dry-cell battery manufac- 
turing requires 88-pct-C graphite products. 



ASH AND OTHER IMPURITIES 

In terms of possible applications of graphite products, 
the following points, taken from a 1984 Industrial Minerals 
article (2), should be mentioned regarding the presence of 
ash and other impurity materials: 

1. In the crucible industry, the amount of ash in the 
flake graphite is not of great importance; however, the type 
of ash is important, since alkaline ashes do not hold up well 
at the high termperature to which the crucibles are exposed. 

2 Most powder uses require low contents of abrasive- 
type (silica) ashes (i.e., grit-free). 

3. In the manufacturing of alkaline-manganese bat- 
teries, the graphite used should be free of metallic im- 
purities such as copper, cobalt, antimony, arsenic, etc. 

4. In low-grade graphite applications, the amount of ash 
is not important; however, a high silica or silicates content 
is considered to be advantageous while the presence of 
sulfides or other type impurities can adversely affect the 
life of the coating or the paint being produced. 



PRICING STRUCTURE 

The pricing structure of the graphite industry is ex- 
tremely complex. This is due to the wide variety of products 
available and the fact that prices are often negotiated be- 
tween the buyer and seller on a year-to-year basis for each 
individual product being purchased. The two prime factors 



directly influencing the price of flake graphite products are 
purity (carbon content) and the size distribution of the flakes 
in the product. By "prime factors", it is meant that in the 
case of two products having roughly the same size distribu- 
tion of flakes, the product having the higher carbon con- 
tent will most likely receive a proportionately higher price. 
In the case of similar carbon contents, the product with a 
higher percentage of large-size flake will command a higher 
price. 

Three types of price listings are shown in tables 9 and 
10. The Chemical Marketing Reporter's price (9) range 
listed in table 9 is for products purchased ex-warehouse from 
suppliers in the New York area and is believed to reflect 
a degree of added processing resulting in higher prices than 
the other listings. The carbon content of these graphites 
varies from 88 to 95 pet carbon. 

Prior to August 1984, Industrial Minerals quoted 
natural graphite prices in terms of English pounds and by 
country-specific graphite sources. A new format, which is 
reflected in the values shown in table 9, was initiated in 
August 1984 to cover a broader spectrum of grades sold in 
metric tons on c.i.f. United Kingdom port basis and quoted 
in U.S. dollars irrespective of source. This change was in- 
tended to address the trend of end users blending graphite 
from different countries rather than relying solely on a par- 
ticular source. The prices range, according to size and car- 
bon content, from $300/mt to $l,100/mt for flake graphite 
and from $250/mt to $l,000/mt for powder (minus 200 
mesh). Industrial Minerals' "small" crystalline flake 
category would be included in this study's graphite A (plus 
100 mesh) product category while the crystalline powder 
product (minus 200 mesh) would be included as a graphite 
B product. Tables 9 and 10 emphasize that graphite's ex- 
tensive range of specifications and applications results in 
wide price variations. 



Table 9.— Selected, published graphite prices, 1984 (9-10) 

Source and product , fj'^f ■ . Gr ^ d ®' 
US $/mt pet C 

Chemical Marketing Reporter: 1 

Flake 1 992-1 ,964 90-95 

Flake 2 992-1 ,963 90-95 

Powder 309- 838 88-90 

Industrial Minerals: 2 

Crystalline lump 3 550-1,100 92 

Crystalline flake: 

Large 630-1 ,000 85-90 

Medium 490- 860 85-90 

Small 300- 800 80-95 

Powder: 

Crystalline (minus 

200-mesh) 250- 275 80-85 

410- 460 90-92 

550- 750 95-97 

750-1 ,000 97-99 

Amorphous powder 175- 350 80-85 

1 Jan. 16, 1984, issue. 

2 Aug. 1984 issue. New format effective as of this issue. Price quoted in U.S. 
dollars irrespective of source. Prices based on c.i.f. United Kingdom port. 
Equivalent to high-crystalline lump of this study. 

Table 10 lists natural graphite prices for the period 
1979-84 as reported for "crystalline" (flake), high- 
crystalline, and amorphous graphite types by Engineering 
and Mining Journal. These prices reflect the country origin 
and are f.o.b. source prices. Except for the Federal Republic 
of Germany and Sri Lanka, it is assumed that the higher 
grade, larger sized flake products command the upper price 
levels of the ranges shown and the lower prices are 
associated with the lower grade, smaller sized flake 
products. 

Tables 9 and 10 emphasize that graphite's extensive 
range of specifications and applications results in wide price 
variations, which are also influenced by individual customer 
requirements. The trend of the averages of price ranges 
shown in table 10 was used for the price proportioning 
methodology adopted for the economic evaluation presented 
later in this report. 



Table 10.— Graphite prices, f.o.b. source, 1979-84 (11) 

(U.S. dollars per metric ton) 



Type and country 1979 

Flake' 

China 200-1 ,000 

Germany, Federal Republic of . . . 360-1,800 

Madagascar 150- 475 

Norway 200- 355 

High-crystalline: 

Sri Lanka 215- 665 

Amorphous: 

Korea, Republic of (bags) 50- 60 

Mexico (bulk) 35- 55 



1980 



1981 



1982 



1983 



1984 



275-1 ,500 
400-2,150 
215- 650 
300- 700 


300-1,700 
420-2,400 
350- 950 
350- 800 


300-1 ,700 
375-3,500 
300- 850 
390- 700 


250-1 ,700 
350-3,500 
275- 700 
300- 900 


60-1 ,700 
350-3,500 
250- 600 
200- 700 


340-1 ,400 


900-2,500 


800-2,500 


600-1 ,700 


i 550-1 .500 


60- 70 
45- 70 


78- 90 
60- 85 


85- 100 
65- 100 


90- 120 
70- 100 


90- 120 
70- 100 



IDENTIFIED AND DEMONSTRATED RESOURCES 



Table 11 summarizes the identified and demonstrated 
resources of flake and high-crystalline graphite in the 11 
countries included in the analysis. Estimated in situ 
resources are shown at both the identified and the 
demonstrated levels as defined by the mineral resource- 
reserve classification system developed jointly by the 
Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey (12). The 
identified resource is equivalent to the cumulative 
measured plus indicated plus inferred tonnages, while 
demonstrated resources are equivalent to the cumulative 
measured plus indicated tonnages. The table also includes 
the in situ, weighted-average carbon grade, and the total 
contained carbon content in each country's demonstrated 



resource tonnage. The Sri Lankan resource is the only high- 
crystalline resource in the table; the remaining tonnages 
are entirely flake graphite resources. 

The total identified resource tonnage of 2,662 Mmt is 
heavily dominated by the estimates for the entire Manam- 
potsy district resource in Madagascar (2,550 Mmt) and by 
the Brazilian resource (47.7 Mmt), which is primarily con- 
tained in only one producing operation. 

The Asian and European demonstrated resources are 
relatively small in terms of contained carbon. However if 
flake graphite resources in two major non-MEC producing 
countries, China and the U.S.S.R. (discussed to some degree 



10 



Table 11.— Identified and demonstrated MEC resources of flake and high-crystalline graphite, by country, 1984 

Demonstrated resources 

Identified resources, ; — z ~ — -. ^ — —. — -r-=r: 

Continent and country in situ, 103 mt Inatu. Grade, Contained C ,' 

'Madagascar 22,550,000 16,711 7.0 1,170 

Zimbabwe 4,800 1 ,882 26.2 

Subtotal, Africa 

Asia: 

India 

Republic of Korea 

Sri Lanka 3 

Subtotal, Asia 

Europe: 

Federal Republic of Germany 

Norway 

Subtotal, Europe 

North America: 

Canada 

Mexico 

Subtotal, North America 

South America: Brazil 

Subtotal, foreign MEC's 

United States 

Grand total, MEC's 2,661,668 94,837 8.283 

W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data. NA Not available. 

A Due to rounding of grades, the country total for contained C content does not necessarily equal multiplication of tonnage and grade. 

2 Order-of-magnitude estimate' for entire Manampotsy district. 

3 High-crystalline graphite. 

in the appendix) were included, the totals for these two con- The three districts are classified according to the degree 

tinents would increase dramatically. of metamorphism to which the original Precambrian 

The continents of Africa, North America (including the sedimentary rocks were subjected. The Manampotsy and 

United States), and South America contain 86.5 pet of the the Ambatolampy groups, located on the eastern slope of 

total MEC demonstrated resource ore tonnage shown in the highlands, have been subjected to intense weathering 

table 11. The following section contains detailed discussions, (laterization). Because of the weathering, these two groups 

in alphabetic order by continent and country, and concludes have accounted for essentially all of the past production of 

with the evaluated demonstrated resources (mill feed ton- flake graphite in Madagascar. The hardrock deposits of the 

nage) for this study. Ampanihy District have only seen experimental production, 

which, in all cases, has been either too expensive to pro- 

AFRICA cess or produced inferior grades of concentrate products. The 

lack of infrastructure is also a major detriment to develop- 

Madagascar ment of the Ampanihy District graphite deposits. 



2,554,800 


18,593 




1,663 


7,628 

3,772 

268 


7,628 

3,772 

139 


15.4 
5.2 

94.2 


1,177 
195 
131 


11,668 


1 1 ,539 




1,503 


NA 

NA 


W 
W 


W 
W 


W 
W 


2,192 


1,275 




413 


10,936 
4,204 


8,055 
2,777 


9.2 
4.0 


741 
111 


15,140 
47,708 


10,832 
28,794 


10.3 


852 
2,966 


2,631,508 
30,160 


71,033 
23,804 


3.7 


7.397 
886 



Resources of flake graphite in the country of 
Madagascar have been described as "large," "immense," 
and "virtually inexhaustible." Figure 4 shows the distribu- 
tion of graphite "lines" throughout the country. These 
graphite "lines" were established by Henri Besairie in his 
1966 publication (13) on Madagascar's mineral resources; 
they represent outcrops or exposed areas (past workings) 
of important graphite occurrences. The graphite "lines" are 
drawn along the strike of the graphite bed and give an ap- 
proximation of the length of the exposure through inference. 
In no sense do these graphite "lines" imply an average or 
typical width of the graphite bed. As outlined in figure 4, 
a discussion of overall country resources can best be 
presented if the areas containing the vast majority of the 
graphite "lines" are grouped into three major districts— 
the Manampotsy District, the Ambatolampy District, and 
the Ampanihy District. 

The Manampotsy District comprises an area covering 
about 175 km from north to south and 90 to 130 km inland 
(east to west) from the eastern coastal cities of Vatoman- 
dry and Tamatave, respectively. The Ambatolampy District 
covers an approximate area of 260 km from north to south 
and 120 km from east to west and is nearly centrally located 
in the island country. The Ampanihy District is located at 
the southern end of the country. Figure 5 contains a detailed 
outline of the Manampotsy District, the most significant 
of the three. 



Manampotsy District Identified Resources 

Graphite resources in the Manampotsy District are 
distributed within four provinces, as shown in figure 5. The 
actual extent of total graphite mineralization is vast. No 
comprehensive, coordinated prospecting programs for ex- 
ploration of total resources have been made in the past. It 
is possible to estimate a reasonable order-of-magnitude total 
identified resource estimate on the province level using 
Besairie's geologic maps (13), which show the graphite 
"lines" in detail at small scales. 

This order-of-magnitude calculation of identified 
resource tonnages of contained graphite for the four 
provinces— Tamatave, Moramanga, Brickaville, and 
Vatomandry— in the Manampotsy District involved the 
methodology described below: 

1. Measure the length of the graphite "lines" on the 
province maps. 

2. Calculate ore volume by multiplying line length by 
bed thickness of 10 m and deposit width of 100 m. These 
width and thickness dimensions are based on values 
representing the minimum bed thickness and typical width 
to be expected within the Manampotsy region and are prob- 
ably conservative. 

3. Multiply the resulting volume by an in situ ore den- 
sity factor of 2.3 mt/m 3 . 



11 



LEGEND 
City or town 
Major graphite line 




i / I \*/ Tamatave 

hi 

\ . ♦/Vatomandry 

7* 



T^Ambatolampy 
l f I District 

Indian Ocean 



Ampanihy District 



FIGURE 4. — Location of major graphite "lines" and 
districts, Madagascar. 



The resulting order-of-magnitude identified resource 
tonnage would yield approximately 126 Mmt of graphite 
products from an estimated 2,545 Mmt ore, if one assumes 
typical ore grades of 7 pet C and a 60-pct overall carbon 
recovery to obtain an 85-pct-C final product. The identified 
ore tonnage estimates for each province within the Manam- 
potsy District are as follows, in million metric tons: 



Tamatave . . . 


352 


Moramanga . 


352 


Brickaville . . 


463 


Vatomandry . 


1,378 


Total . . 


2,545 



This total identified resource estimate for the four prov- 
inces in the Manampotsy District carries an implicit 
assumption that the tonnage meets the four basic criteria 
necessary for exploitation: 



Tamatave 



Ambatomitamba 



., Sahanavo 

Moramanga ?? # 

Ambalarandre 



Tsaravoniany 

Fa liar a no 
*y*£+——jAndasifahatelo 

Perinet 




Vatomandry 






LEGEND 

Province boundary 

City or town 

Graphite occurrence 
Road 

Railroad 

River 

Canal 



10 20 



Scale, km 



FIGURE 5.— Location of evaluated deposits in the Manam- 
potsy District, Madagascar. 



1. Sufficient reserves of soft ore must be present with 
minimum grades of 5 pet C. 

2. The position of the graphite bed with respect to the 
surface must allow its exploitation without significant over- 
burden removal. Typical overburden thicknesses range from 
no cover to 20 m. 

3. For economic consideration, the deposit must be 
located at an elevation that permits transportation of the 
ore to the field washing plant by gravity flow in a slurry 
form. A nominal slope of 5 pet must be maintained between 
the levels of the sluice head and the field concentrator to 
insure slurry flow. 

4. The field concentrator must be located so that 
disposal of waste clays and tailings is facilitated, which em- 
phasizes the importance of rivers located near the site. 

Within this larger identified resource tonnage in the 
Manampotsy District is the estimated tonnage contained 
in six producing and two nonproducing concession areas. 
It is these properties that comprise the demonstrated 
resource analyzed for availability. 



12 



Manampotsy District Demonstrated and Evaluated 
Resources 

The Manampotsy District contains six analyzed produc- 
ing operations and two analyzed nonproducing concession 
areas in the four provinces, as listed in table 12 and shown 
in figure 5. In Tamatave Province, the Manampotsy 
graphite system is located between the Vohibary system 
and the Brickaville granitoid pegmatites, with the latter 
also exhibiting some graphite mineralization. The Am- 
batomitamba operation, an active mine located in the 
southern part of the province, has the capacity of produc- 
ing 5,000 mt/yr of graphite products. 

Table 12.— Demonstrated resources of evaluated graphite 
properties, Manompotsy District, Madagascar, 1984 

Demonstrated Evaluated demonstrated 
Province and in situ resources, 10 3 mt 

deposit resources, Mill feed Recoverable 

10 3 mt tonnage 1 products 2 

Producing mines: 
Brickaville: 

Sahamamy W W W 

Antsirakambo W W W 

Moramanga: Andasifahatelo, 

Faliarano WWW 

Tamatave: Ambatomitamba . . W W W 

Vatomandry: Marovintsy .... W W W 

Total 13,621 12,940 702 

Nonproducing deposits: 
Brickaville: Sahanavo 

concession W W W 

Moramanga: Tsaravoniany 

concession W W W 

Total 3,090 3,123 162 

Grand total 16,711 16,063 864 ~ 

W Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data; included in 
totals. 
1 Recoverable demonstrated resource. 
2 At average 85 pet C. 

In Moramanga Province, southwest of Tamatave Prov- 
ince, the Manampotsy graphite system trends north-south 
and runs between the Mangoro and Brickaville pegmatites. 
Two active operations, Faliarano and Andasifahatelo, and 
the nonproducing Tsaravoniany concession area are located 
in this province. 

In Brickaville Province, to the immediate south of 
Tamatave Province, graphite mineralization occurs in 
generally north-south oriented ore beds in the Manampotsy 
graphite and Brickaville pegmatite systems. Antsirakambo, 
located in the extreme northeast, and Sahamamy, 25 km 
southwest of Antsirakambo, are producing operations in 
this province. The nonproducing Shanavo concession area 
is also located here. 

In Vatomandry Province, which is south of Brickaville 
and Moramanga Provinces, Marovintsy is the only produc- 
ing operation. Marovintsy is situated at the edge of marshes 
and lakes with the mineralized area forming low hills of 
about 30-m relief that are separated by the marshy areas. 
Transportation of final graphite products is in 25-mt barges 
via Lake Marovintsy and the Pangalanes Canal to 
Tamatave and represents a distinct advantage in cost and 
convenience over the other producers (14). In general, dif- 
ficulties in transportation, which is hindered by near im- 
passable tropical vegetation and a marginal road system 
that is in a continual state of disrepair, have influenced the 
development and evolution of the industry in Madagascar. 

As shown in table 12, it is estimated that as of January 
1984, the total recoverable demonstrated resources are 
estimated at 16.06 Mmt, which would result from the min- 
ing of 16.71 Mmt of in situ ore. This evaluated tonnage is 



contained in eight properties— six producers and two non- 
producing concession areas— and has an overall weighted- 
average grade of 7.2 pet graphitic carbon (range of 7 to 9.2 
pet). The evaluated tonnage, with estimated mill recoveries 
ranging between 60 to 65 pet, should result in production 
of 863,500 mt of graphite products averaging 85 pet C. 

Resources in Ambatolampy and Ampanihy Districts 

The Ambatolampy District had been a major supplier 
of graphite prior to 1952-53. The boom years for production 
from this district were early in the history of the 
Madagascar graphite mining industry, from 1910 through 
World War I. Operations came to a halt in the years from 
1919 to 1924 to allow stockpiles built up during World War 
I to be depleted. Production resumed at selected sites in 
1924, but the depression of the 1930's reduced production 
to only a few operations mining high-grade deposits and/or 
realizing low transportation costs. 

Most of the past operations in the Ambatolampy District 
have exploited outcrops with steep dips, which limited or 
prohibited deep excavations. This steeply dipping nature 
of many of the deposits in the Ambatolampy District plus 
the increased transportation costs required to get products 
to the port at Tamatave are two of the major factors why 
production at present is concentrated in the Manampotsy 
District. It is evident that significant quantities of 
subeconomic reserves remain in the Ambatolampy District, 
which makes it a probable site for future graphite mining 
as the economic Manampotsy District deposits approach 
depletion. However, no tonnage estimates have been made 
of either demonstrated or inferred resources in the Am- 
batolampy District. 

In the Ampanihy District, graphite beds of leptitic rocks 
form groups of long, continuous beds, the outcrops of which 
are highly visible. The graphitic beds are often higher in 
grade than the lateritic clay beds that are mined at pres- 
ent in Madagascar, but the rocks have not been laterized 
and are essentially hardrock deposits requiring much ad- 
ditional grinding, which makes extraction of the larger 
flakes more difficult and also makes processing more costly. 
According to Besairie (13), this district can be divided into 
three groups: the Mogoky-Behily group, which has sup- 
posedly been prospected in detail; the Ampanihy group, 
which saw brief exploitation of one deposit in 1925-26; and 
the Tranovoa group, wich saw some test exploitations in 
1925-26. These past test exploitations were abandoned due 
to high operating costs (probably due to extra grinding re- 
quirements and transport costs), water supply problems, and 
insufficient ore treatment methods. Regarding the latter 
point, the Ampanihy test operation produced only a 60-pct-C 
concentrate from a 15-pct-C ore, and the Tranovoa group 
exploitations produced concentrates grading only 75 pet C. 

The Ampanihy District graphite deposits would be the 
lowest ranked Madagascar deposits in terms of economics 
and would probably be exploited only when the other 
deposits are exhausted. No tonnage estimates of graphite 
resources in the Ampanihy District have been made. 

In summary, it should be noted that at the 1982 pro- 
duction level of 15,354 mt, the Manampotsy District's in- 
ferred resources of 126 Mmt would last 8,200 yr. This fact 
illustrates why the total graphite resources of Madagascar 
could be considered "virtually inexhaustible." 

Zimbabwe 

This study's demonstrated and identified resources of 
flake graphite in Zimbabwe are contained in only one pro- 



13 



ducer, the Lynx Mine, an underground operation located 
60 km northwest of Karoi in Mashonaland North Province. 
The mine is located within 50 km of the Zambian border 
and of the Kariba Dam. 

The Lynx deposit lies in an area between exposed 
Precambrian rock to the south and east and Palezoic and 
Mesozoic flat-lying sedimentary rocks to the north. Graphite 
outcrops occur at about 700 m above sea level as lenticular 
layers ranging from 2 to 20 m thick (average of 3 m) and 
interstratified with limestone gneiss. Other country rock 
consists of pegmatite, amphibolite, and quartzite. 

For this study, it was estimated that 1.88 Mmt of in situ, 
demonstrated resources and 4.8 Mmt of in situ identified 
resources are present at the property with an average grade 
of 26.2 pet C. The demonstrated resource would be contained 
in four well-defined zones to a vertical depth of about 
200 m and would be sufficient to feed the mill for 36 yr at 
full design capacity, resulting in production of about 445,000 
mt of graphite products. 



ASIA 

India 

As shown in figure 6, graphite deposits and occurrences 
in India can be grouped into two broad geographical belts. 
The Eastern Belt extends from just south of the Eastern 
Himalayas along the Eastern Ghat Mountain Range to the 
southern tip of the country. The Western Belt extends from 
just south of the Western Himalayas around the Great In- 
dian Desert to the western end of the Vindhya Mountain 
Range in the State of Gujarat. The Eastern Belt ranges from 
about 250 to over 600 km wide, while the Western Belt 
ranges from 300 to over 600 km wide. The deposits in the 
Eastern Belt are more frequent and generally exhibit better 
quality (carbon grade) than do those in the Western Belt. 



Pakistan 




Arabian Sea 

LEGEND 
ry-A Graphite 
V/A belts 



Scale, km 



FIGURE 6.— Location of graphite belts in India. 



In both belts, the northernmost deposits are large in terms 
of size, but carbon contents are unpredictable and generally 
low. These northernmost deposits are those in Arunachal 
Pradesh State (Eastern Belt) and those in Jammu and 
Kashmir States (Western Belt). It should again be noted 
that the belts shown in figure 6 are geographic delineations 
only. 

Geologically, the graphite deposits that have been and 
are being worked are generally confined to metamorphic 
rocks of the Khondalite Series and to charnockites and 
granitoid-gneisses, which are intrusive into the Khondalite 
Series rocks. Most of the flake deposits in India occur as 
disseminated flakes in the schistose and gneissic host rocks 
and contain less than 20 pet C. 

According to the Indian Minerals Yearbook of 1978-79 
(16), graphite reserves at the time consisted of indicated 
reserves of 0.33 Mmt and inferred reserves of 173.0 Mmt. 
A detailed examination of its list of properties (16) reveals 
three points of interest: 

1. The 173 Mmt of inferred ore represents the total in 
23 deposits or areas: 6 in Andra Pradesh, 1 in Bihar, 2 in 
Gujarat, 5 in Kerala, 1 in Karnataka, 2 in Madhya Pradesh, 
2 in Tamil Nadu, 2 in Arunachal Pradesh, and 2 in Jammu 
and Kashmir. Of these 23 deposits or areas with inferred 
ore tonnages, only 15 had carbon grades or grade ranges 
assigned to them. 

2. Of the 173 Mmt of inferred ore, fully 95.6 pet was 
contained in the two Arunachal Pradesh deposits (81.35 
Mmt) and the two Jammu and Kashmir deposits (84.09 
Mmt) previously mentioned. These deposits have variable 
and low-grade graphitic carbon contents and may or may 
not be amorphous graphite deposits. They are located in 
remote areas and are not presently important from an 
economic standpoint. 

3. No deposits or tonnages were listed from Orissa, the 
largest producing State. In 1983, as part of a Bureau con- 
tract (15), Zellers- Williams personnel visited Orissa State 
and compiled a list of 13 deposits and/or areas in the State 
where the evaluator felt that reasonable resource estimates 
could be assigned. The tonnages estimated for these 13 
deposit areas were all assigned to the indicated level and 
totaled 1,084,000 mt of ore averaging 14.8 pet C. 

Table 13, which summarizes flake resources in India, 
shows a total estimated resource of 7.6 Mmt of material with 
a weighted-average grade of 15.4 pet graphitic carbon. This 
table was constructed as follows: 

1. Inclusion of the 15 deposits-areas listed in the 
1978-79 Indian Minerals Yearbook that had graphitic car- 
bon grades assigned. 

2. Inclusion of resource estimates for the 13 Orissa 
State deposits-areas identified in this study. 

3. Addition of two deposits-areas in Madhya Pradesh 
and one in Rajasthan State. 

4. Exclusion of the four large deposits in Arunuchal 
Pradesh and Jammu-Kashmir, which are possibly amor- 
phous graphite deposits and definitely uneconomic at 
present. 

A complete picture of flake graphite reserves and 
resources in India can only be obtained by dealing with 
many individual deposits scattered over a large 
geographical area with few available data. Due to time and 
monetary constraints under the contract, only 1 of the 31 
deposits or areas shown in table 13 (Temrimal) was analyzed 
in this study for economics and included in the availabil- 
ity curves as a demonstrated resource. 



14 



Table 13.— Flake graphite resources in India of probable 
economic significance (15-16) 



State 



Number of 
districts 



Number of 
deposits 
or areas 



Demonstrated resources 



Tonnage, 
10 3 mt 



Carbon 
grade, 
wt pet 



Contained 
C, 
mt 1 



Andhra 
Pradesh 

Bihar .... 

Gujarat . . 

Kamataka 

Kerala . . . 

Madhya 
Pradesh 

Orissa . . . 

Rajasthan 

Tamil Nadu 
Total 



3 

1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
4 
1 
2 
15 



6 
1 
2 

1 
3 

2 
13 

1 
2 



147 

1,600 

3,330 

51 

565 

530 

1,080 

58 

267 



30.1 
20.0 
8.5 
11.0 
33.7 

24.0 
14.8 
11.0 
15.0 



44,250 

320,000 

283.000 

5,600 

190,400 

127,200 

160,000 

6,380 

40,100 



31 



7,628 



15.4 



1,176,930 



1 Due to rounding of the grades, contained carbon value does not necessarily 
equal multiplication of tonnage and grade. 

Republic of Korea 

There are two major belts of Precambrian metamorphic 
rocks in the Republic of Korea: the Gyeonggi Massif and 
the Ryeongnam Massif. The two belts are separated by the 
Ogcheon Fold Belt, as illustrated in Figure 1A. The ma- 
jority of the flake deposits are located within the Gyeonggi 
Massif (1 7) and concentrated in the north central and north- 
western regions of the country, as shown in figure IB. 

Deposits of crystalline graphite in South Korea can be 
divided into two classes (18). The first class consists of 
deposits that contain 3 to 4 pet flake graphite disseminated 
in highly weathered granitic rocks that have intruded 
Precambrian carbon-bearing schists of sedimentary origin. 




LEGEND 

City 

Approximate demorcotion of major 

geologic complexes 

Country boundary 



The two evaluated producers, Pyong Taek and Gun Ja, both 
located in Kyong Gi Province, are representative of this 
class of flake deposit. 

The second class consists of deposits of extremely fine 
grained flake graphite containing 9 to 30 pet C, which oc- 
cur in lenticular masses enclosed in quartz and mica schists. 
These deposits were probably formed by the metamorphism 
of amorphous graphite during tectonic events in late 
Jurassic times (18). They are usually steeply dipping and 
would have to be mined by underground techniques. Only 
one deposit, Yong Un, in Chung Nam Province, was eval- 
uated at the demonstrated level for this report. This evalua- 
tion was made solely to provide a measure of the relative 
economics of this class of flake graphite deposit in the 
Republic of Korea. 

In 1983, the Ministry of Energy and Resources of the 
Republic of Korea (Merrok) published a table showing its 
estimates of graphite reserves in the country (19). The 
estimates were presented on a province basis for both amor- 




A 

1 

2 

3 



LEGEND 

International boundary 

Province boundary 

Producer, evaluated 

Nonproducer, evaluated 

Nonproducer, not evaluated 

Deposits 
Pyong Taek 
Oryu 
Gun Ja 



4 


Shi Heung 


5 


Taesamjin 


6 


Ga Pyong 


7 


Tae Wha 


8 


Dae Won 


9 


Dae Heung 


10 


Yong Un 


11 


Keryong 


12 


Jin Heung 


13 


Sam Gong 




L 


20 40 

, i > i 



Scale, km 



FIGURE 7.— Republic of Korea: A, Outline of major geologic complexes; B, location of flake graphite deposits. 



15 



10 


1,937 


5.7 


110,387 


1 

2 


115 
1,720 


10.0 
4.25 


1 1 ,500 
73,100 


3 


1,835 


4.61 


84,600 



phous and flake graphite reserves. These values are be- 
lieved to represent the official South Korean natural 
graphite reserves as of 1983. 

Merrok's table showed a total of 15.547 Mmt of flake 
graphite ore at an overall fixed carbon grade of 5.36 pet as 
constituting the flake graphite resource as of 1983, with 
three provinces— Kyong Gi, Kang Won, and Chung Nam, 
in order of importance— containing 95.1 pet of this total ton- 
nage. For this analysis, a demonstrated resource tonnage 
of 3.77 Mmt ore at 5.2 pet C (table 14) appears to be a more 
realistic assessment of presently explored areas, with the 
difference essentially representing potential future 
resources at the two producing operations indicated to re- 
quire either further exploration or investigation before be- 
ing classified as demonstrated resources. 



Table 14.— Demonstrated flake graphite resources of the 
Republic of Korea 

Number of Demonstrated resources 
Province operations in situ In situ Contained 
and tonnage, grade, carbon, 1 
deposits 1 pa m t pc t mt 

Nonevaluated: 

Chung Nam 3 60 12.1 7,260 

Chung Puk 1 10 11.0 1,100 

Kang Won 2 541 9.3 50,313 

Kyong Gi 4 1,326 3.9 51,714 

Subtotal 

Evaluated: 

Chung Nam 

Kyong Gi 

Subtotal 

Total demonstrated re- 

sources 13 3,772 5.2 194,987 

1 Owing to rounding of the grades, contained carbon value does not 
necessarily equal multiplication of tonnage and grade. 



The in situ identified and demonstrated resources for 
the Republic of Korea, shown previously in table 11, are 
further divided in table 14 into nonevaluated and evaluated 
demonstrated resources. The nonevaluated demonstrated 
resources total 1.937 Mmt of in situ ore averaging 5.7 pct 
C and contained in 10 nonproducing deposits. The evaluated 
demonstrated resources include 1.720 Mmt of in situ ore 
at 4.25 pct C in the 2 producing operations in Kyong Gi 
Province that were analyzed for surface mining economics, 
and 115,000 mt of in situ ore at 10.0 pct C in 1 nonproducer 
that was analyzed for underground mining economics. 



Sri Lanka 

Graphite mineralization in Sri Lanka consists of 
massive, high-crystalline graphite in veins and/or lenses 
that occupy natural fissures in the host rocks of Precam- 
brian metamorphic gneisses. Figure 8 shows an outline of 
the area of high-crystalline graphite occurrences, deposits, 
and operations in Sri Lanka. 

High-crystalline resources in Sri Lanka have been 
described as vast. This is likely due to the large area of in- 
dicated mineralization shown in figure 8. By contrast, the 
identified resources shown previously in table 1 1 total only 
268,000 mt of demonstrated and inferred resources esti- 
mated to be present at four producing mines. The demon 
strated portion of that tonnage is further estimated to total 
only 139,000 mt of in situ resources averaging 94.2 pct C 
at these four producing mines as of January 1984. These 







BAY 


F 




Moduroi J 
INDIA / 


S 








t3§^s. 










^P-OkX B E N G 


A L 




/?;:¥: tanner 




^xl \Tnncwnalei 
SBI J LANKA A-. 








/ AnurodriQpuroI f y 
I *7 / \ 
















% 1 N D 1 AN 


"1 


r/V/1/^KAMATAGAHA- KCXONGAHA 

\y//is// /// \ 

,^V/»^ ran gala 

TeOGALA-Oo^Xr' fc Bodullo 
///// "otnopuro 










S^g^^ 







LEGEND 
• OTyortown 
V//A Graphite ore district 

X Mine 
h — i — r- Railroad 



FIGURE 8.— Location of high-crystalline graphite deposits 
in Sri Lanka. 



analyzed operations represent essentially 100 pct of produc- 
tion as of the early 1980's. Because these producers mine 
relatively thin veins by underground methods, any demon- 
strated resource tonnage estimate will necessarily be 
relatively small, since determination of eventually mineable 
resources will depend upon future underground develop- 
ment work. 

The Kahatagaha-Kolongaha (K/K) mineralization is en- 
tirely of the vein type, with a regular east-west strike and 
southerly dip. The vein pattern consists of more than 100 
veins or veinlets, of which 32 have been mined or explored. 
The vein system is quite regular; however, all of the veins 
do not maintain continuity with depth. The average horizon- 
tal length of a vein is approximately 60 m, but some veins 
extend for over 150 m. The average thickness is usually be- 
tween 0.20 and 0.25 m, but some veins under exploration 
show a thickness of 0.9 m. 

The Bogala Mine has a mineralized area of about 8 ha. 
The thickness of the veins vary from a few centimeters to 
about 1.5 m. The strike length varies from about 200 to 500 
m, while vertically the extent is almost from the surface 
to more than 400 m deep. As of the early 1980's, the major 
veins are named Kumbuk, Na, and Mee. 

Other graphite resources occur at the Rangala Mine, 
near Bogala, and at Ragedera, north of the K/K Mine. (See 
figure 8.) As noted previously, demonstrated resources at 
all of these Sri Lankan mines could increase significantly 
as a result of future underground exploration work. 



16 



EUROPE 
Federal Republic of Germany 

All of the graphite produced in the Federal Republic of 
Germany comes from the Passau District of Bavaria, which 
has had production for well over a century. The graphite 
deposits occur over an area of about 100 km 2 ; however, the 
major operation analyzed in this study, Kropfmuhl, has its 
present mining operations concentrated within an area of 
only 3 km 2 . The Kropfmuhl ores consist of disseminated 
flake graphite occurring as lenses and seams interbedded 
with crystalline marble and gneissic rock. At Kropfmuhl, 
a series of 20 graphite-bearing seams are known; typically, 
four or five beds averaging 1.5 m thick are mined by 
underground methods at any one time. The country rock 
and seams are extremely folded, and the combination of in- 
tense folding and the requirement for underground mining 
means that development of ore reserves relies upon substan- 
tial geological, geophysical, core drilling, and development 
work. 

The in situ grade of the flake graphite seams and lenses 
ranges between 25 and 40 pet graphitic carbon; however, 
indications are that this ore will often be diluted as much 
as 50 pet with waste rock, depending upon operational 
requirements. 

As noted in table 11, the resource tonnages at the Kropf- 
muhl operation have been withheld to avoid disclosing com- 
pany proprietary data. It can be noted that the evaluated 
demonstrated resource for this operation represents the 
equivalent of 40 yr of production at rates being maintained 
in the early 1980's, and that the identified resource ton- 
nage could be as much as two to four times as large. 



Norway 

Graphite resources occur at Skaland on the island of 
Senja, at Jennestad on the island of Langoy, at Rendalsvik 
(66° 13' N and 14° 01' E), at Vaernes (66° 40' N and 13° 
12' E), and at Ramskartind (66° 42' N and 13° 39' E). 
Norwegian graphite is contained mainly in lenses in mica 
schist host rocks, with graphite grades ranging from 6 to 
30 pet C. The only producer in the past has been the Skaland 
operation, the only property included in this analysis. This 
operation produced ore feed grading around 25 pet C from 
underground mining operations. 

By comparison, the graphite resources at the other four 
locations in Norway are all relatively low in grade. At 
Jennestad, ore assaying 10 pet C occurs in a layer 1 to 1.5 
m thick in mica schist, amphibolites, and quartzites. 
Resources are reported at 0.5 Mmt, but half of this is 
reported to be amorphous graphite that is very difficult to 
concentrate. About 0.5 Mmt of resources are reported to be 
present in a series of four lenticular ore bodies averaging 
7 pet C at Rendalsvik (8, p. 15). The mica schist at Ram- 
skartind reportedly has a graphite-bearing zone, at 6 to 20 
pet C, extending for a distance of over 1.2 km and varying 
in thickness from 4.6 to nearly 9.2 m. On the southern shore 
of Tjongsfjord, at Vaernes, three graphite layers ranging 
from 0.5 to 1.1 m wide with 6 to 10 pet C have been in- 
vestigated (8, p. 15). In all, Norway's total identified 
resources in all five of the deposits mentioned above could 
easily be over 2 Mmt. However, with the shutdown of the 
Skaland operation due to a fire at the mill, none of this ton- 
nage was in production as of 1985. 



As noted, the Skaland tonnage comprised the only eval- 
uated demonstrated resources. At present, future plans for 
the extraction of the remaining tonnage are in doubt. In 
addition, the resource values as of 1984 for this property 
are presently considered to be confidential in nature. 



NORTH AMERICA 
Canada 



A literature search concerning all known graphite 
deposites and occurrences in Canada, conducted as part of 
a Bureau contract (15), resulted in a list of 151 deposits, 
past producers, occurrences, claims, concessions, "show- 
ings," and "rumors." The total included 24 in the Province 
of British Columbia, 1 in Saskatchewan, and 6 in Newfound- 
land, but the vast majority (120) were located in the areas 
of southern Quebec and southeastern Ontario that have con- 
tributed all of Canada's past production of flake graphite. 
Locations of these areas or deposits are shown in figures 
9 and 10. 

The 30 listings in British Columbia and Newfoundland 
were occurrences only, and many of the British Columbia 
occurrences could not even be located based on the infor- 
mation available. In addition, all of the Newfoundland oc- 
currences appear to be of the amorphous variety. 

Of the remaining 121, only the Deep Bay deposit in 
Saskatchewan and the producing Notre Dame Du Laus 
operation and the nonproducing Bouthillier-Orrwell deposit, 
both in Ontario, were analyzed for economics. Of the re- 
maining 118 listings for southern Quebec and southeastern 
Ontario, 8 have been tentatively identified as being of some 
significance (20), although the present reserve-resource 
assignments shown in table 15 are not detailed to the point 
of allowing economic analysis. Their locations are shown 
in figure 10. In addition, a recently explored deposit, the 
Bissett Creek-Tagliamonte property in Ontario (fig. 10), has 
been indicated to contain a large resource; but it was not 
analyzed for economics, nor is it listed in table 15. 

As shown in figure 10, the gneissic and metasedimen- 
tary belts of the Precambrian Grenville Series represent 
the graphite-bearing host rocks in Ontario and Quebec. The 
three most significant properties in this area all contain 
less than 10 pet C. The Notre Dame du Laus ore consists 
of flake graphite disseminated in a crystalline limestone; 
the Bouthillier-Orrwell flake graphite is disseminated in 
a carbonate rock (probably crystalline limestone) and a 
gneiss; and the Bissett Creek-Tagliamonte deposit in On- 
tario contains flake graphite disseminated in a gneissic rock 
unit. 

In summary, the identified in situ resource of 10.9 Mmt 
listed previously in table 7 represents the tonnage contained 
in one producing mine (Notre Dame Du Laus) and two non- 
producing deposits (Deep Bay and Bouthillier-Orrwell), as 
shown in figure 10. The demonstrated in situ resources at 
these three properties total 8.06 Mmt averaging 9.2 pet C 
with 7.4 Mmt of recoverable ore representing the evaluated 
demonstrated resource at the three properties. Approx- 
imately half of the identified in situ resource is contained 
in the Deep Bay deposit in Saskatchewan; a very signifi- 
cant portion of the demonstrated resource is in nonproduc- 
ing deposits; and a fair portion will require underground 
mining. 



17 



wm w*w«P*« 




Deposit location 
and name 



Map 
number 



Graphite 
type 



Production 
status 



4* 

▲ 



LEGEND 

International boundary 

Province or State boundary 

Location ot 20 British 
Columbia occurrences 

Nonproducer, evaluated 
Nonproducer, not evaluated 



Canada: 








British Columbia: 








Red Cap-Taku River 


1 


Unkown 


Occurence 


Willow River 


2 


. . do 


Do. 


Bentinck Arm 


3 
4 


do 
...do 


Do. 


Rrvers Inlet 


Do. 


Saskatchewan: Deep Bay 


5 


Flake 


Nonproducer ' 


Newfoundland: 








Nachvak 


6 


Unkown 


Occurrence 


Saglek Bay 


7 


do 


Do 


Baie Verte 


8 


do 


Do 


Long Range 


9 


do 


Do 




10 


do 


Do 


Fair and False Bay 


11 


do 


Do 


United States: 








Alaska: Kigluaik Mountams- 


12 


Flake 


Past producer 


Imuruk Basin. 








Montana: 








Black Diamond Carbon 


13 


Amorphous 


Producer 


Mine 






(sporadic) 


Dillon 


14 


High-crystalline 
(vein type) 


Occurrence 


Idaho Shorty Claims 


15 


Amorphous (?), 


Explored 






meta-anthra- 


deposit 






cite (?) 




New Mexico Raton 


16 


Amorphous 


Occurrence 


Texas: Southwestern 


17 


Flake 


Past producer 


Graphite Mine 









'Evaluated in this study 



HGURE 9.— Location of natural graphite areas, occurrences, and deposits in Canada and the United States. 



18 




LEGEND 

Grenville gneissic belt, Canada 
c-:-:-:-:g Grenville metasedimentary belt, Canada 
• City 

— Canada-US boundary and Province or State boundary 

Area of past production of crystalline flake graphite 

Producer, evaluated 
Nonproducer , evaluated 
Nonproducer, not evaluated 



Deposit location 
and name 



Map 
number 



Graphite 
type 



Production 
status 



9* 



50 

_l 



100 

I 



150 



Scale, km 



United States: 








Adirondack Mountains, New 


1 


Flake 


Major past 


York. 






producer. 


Chester-Allentown area, 


2 


. . do 


Do. 


Pennsylvania. 








Portsmouth and Cranston 


3 


Meta-anthra- 


Nonproducer; 


areas, Rhode Island. 




cite. 


area too 
small to 
show on 
map scale. 


Canada: 








Evaluated properties: 








Boutfoiller-Orwell 


4 


Flake 


Nonproducer. 


Notre Dame Du Laus 


5 


...do 


Producer. 


Nonevaluated properties: 








Bell Mine 


6 


do 


Past producer. 
Do. 


Cornell 


7 


... do 


Kirkham-Desert Lake 


8 


. . do 


Do. 


Globe 


9 


. . do 


Do. 


Beidellman-Lyell and Carter 


10 


do 


Do. 


Lake. 








National-Cardiff 


11 
12 


do 

do 


Do. 


Bissett Creek-Tagliamonte 


In exploration 


Butt Township 


13 


... do 


Do. 



FIGURE 10.— Location of flake graphite areas and deposits in southern Quebec, southeastern Ontario, New York, and 
Pennsylvania, and of the Rhode Island meta-anthracites. 



19 



Table 15.— Flake graphite deposits of possible future 

significance, southeastern Ontario and southern Quebec, 

Canada (20) 

Province and deposit | oca tion Description of Tonnage, Grade, 
or property name / fj 1Q > resource mt wt pet C 



Ontario: 

Beidellman-Lyell. 

Butt township . . 

Carter Lake .... 

Cornell 

Globe 

Kirkham-Desert 
Lake 

National-Cardiff . 
Quebec: Bell Mine . . 



10 
13 
10 

7 
9 
8 

11 
6 



Possible 
..do ... 
..do ... 
..do ... 
..do ... 



..do 

..do 

Proven or probable. 



Large 5.0-10.0 

Large 5.0-10.0 

907,000 5.0 

907,000 10.0 

73,000 6.0 



194,000 

1 ,306,000 

168,000 



10.8 

4.1 

( 1 ) 



The available resource data on U.S. graphite deposits 
show an extremely wide variation in degrees of quantity, 
quality, and age. This causes some difficulty in conducting 
an overall analysis of the availability of natural graphite 
resources in the United States, especially if the study is to 
provide a reasonable degree of compatible and comparable 
data. For that reason, it is appropriate to discuss the flake 
graphite resources on a State-by-State basis. This discus- 
sion will facilitate the reader's understanding of why the 
Alabama flake deposits are the only U.S. flake graphite 
resources included in the final availability analysis. 



Marketable ore. 



Alaska 
Mexico 

Flake graphite mineralization occurs in gneisses and 

Mexican graphite resources are composed mainly of schists of the Kigluaik Mountain Range north of Nome on 

amorphous graphite resulting from the metamorphism of the Seward Peninsula. Outcrops that have been worked in 

coalbeds of the Barranca Formation. Analysis of the the past are located on the north slope of the mountain 

economics and overall resources of amorphous graphite in range and face the Imuruk River Basin. Hence, the deposits 

Mexico is beyond the scope of this analysis and is not fur- have been more commonly referred to as the Imuruk Basin 

ther addressed in this study. graphite deposits. 

One Mexican flake graphite producer was included in The Imuruk Basin deposits were worked by the Alaska 

this study, the Telixtlahuaca Mine in the State of Oaxaca Graphite Mining Co. and the Uncle Sam Alaska Mining 

in southern Mexico. At this property, flake graphite occurs Syndicate from 1907 through 1917, with indicated produc- 

disseminated throughout metamorphosed, silica-rich sedi- tion of at least 420 mt of hand-picked ore and talus 

mentary rocks at grades of slightly less than 4.0 pet gra- graphite. 6 

phitic carbon. The zone that has been mined since startup The latest known official investigation of these deposits 

in 1980 is the weathered, oxidized zone; the unweathered, for which a report is available is extremely dated. The 

unoxidized rocks were not considered at present for any report, written by H. Heide of the Bureau of Mines and R.R. 

future production. The in situ demonstrated resource at this Coates of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), was the result 

operation is estimated to total 2.8 Mmt containing 4.0 pet of a reconnaissance survey conducted in 1943. In a separate 

graphitic carbon, for a total contained carbon content of report, Heide estimated identified resources at 35,900 mt 

111,000 mt. The identified in situ resource is estimated to of contained graphite in high-grade (65 pet C) lenticular ore 

be 4.2 Mmt. bodies and 180,000 to 270,000 mt of contained graphite in 

low-grade (10 pet C) schist ore bodies. These estimates were 

United States made for a 5.6-km-long section of outcrops. 

At the time Heide noted that his estimates did not in- 
Historical flake graphite production data from five elude possible reserves east of Glacier Canyon and that ad- 
States are compiled in table 16. Alabama, New York, and ditional reserves might also be present in two graphitic 
Texas represent 89.1 pet of the total shown. During the 5 zones parallel to the northerly fault zone fronting the range, 
yr of World War I (1914-18), the combined production of New Still, it is considered to be extremely unlikely that the fre- 
York (6,489 mt) and Alabama (11,396 mt) represented 29.5 quently cited (and enormous) tonnage of greater than 10 
pet of total U.S. historical production. Mmt of recoverable graphite, which first appeared in USGS 

Natural graphite deposits in the United States occur in Professional Paper 820 (21), is present in Alaska. 

9 States, as shown in figure 9. Flake graphite resources are Because of the lack of detailed and updated geological 

located in Alabama, Alaska, New York, Pennsylvania, and data and metallurgical testing on the Imuruk Basin 

Texas. High-crystalline, vein-type graphite similar to Sri deposits, the in situ tonnage estimated at 2.3 Mmt is 

Lankan graphite is present in a deposit near Dillon, MT. classified as identified resources and was not evaluated for 

The amorphous variety, which includes meta-anthracites economics or avai lability. 

and graphitized coal deposits, is present in Idaho, Montana, «According to unpublished reports by H. Heide in a 1943 Bureau of Mines 

New Mexico, and Rhode Island. study. 

Table 16.— Flake graphite production data for the United States, 1889-1977 

Production period Recorded production data 

State Major producing area for recorded Tonnage, Description of 

production data mt tonnage 

Alabama Clay, Coosa, and Chilton Counties. 1913-20, 1941-45, 1952 '20,660 Concentrates. 

A l aska Imuruk Basin (Kigluaik Mountain Range). 1907,1916,1942,1950 420 Hand-sorted ore. 

Pennsylvania Chester County 1889-1954 6,350 Flake graphite. 

New York Adirondack Mountains 1 904-21 22,200 Concentrates. 

Texas Burnet County 1971-77 '11,100 Do. 

Total . 60J30 

'Does not include production for periods of 1921-29 and 1946-51, which could have represented an additional 14,000 mt of concentrates. 

^Does not include production for periods of 1936-70 and 1978-79, which could have represented an additional 35,000 mt of concentrates. 



20 



New York 

New York flake graphite properties were not analyzed 
for economics in this study or included in the availability 
analysis because there were too many unknowns about the 
present condition of the prior workings and of the nature 
of the ore to propose reasonably accurate mining and mill- 
ing scenarios. The relatively uneconomic position of these 
resources can be judged by the following points compiled 
from three publications (22-24), as well as unpublished 
Bureau of Mines data from a 1976 study: 

1. Extraction would require underground mining, prob- 
ably with a small-scale room-and-pillar method. Mining 
would most likely require the complete rehabilitation of old 
workings. 

2. The graphite grade, even at an average of 6.5 to 7.5 
pet C, is extremely low in comparison with that of produc- 
ing flake underground mines in Norway, Federal Republic 
of Germany, and Zimbabwe (17 pet to >25 pet C). 

3. The largest of the past producing mills were built 
with design capacities of about 180 mt/d ore or equivalent 
to between 50,000 and 65,000 mt/yr ore. This appears to 
be a limitation imposed by topographic considerations and 
would most likely also limit the scale of any new proposed 
operations. 

4. The schist ore to be processed is unweathered and 
would thus require a significant amount of primary 
grinding. 

In the southeastern Adirondacks group (fig. 10), past 
production came from 12 properties. All but two of these 
properties are within the boundaries of the Adirondack 
State Park and thus not open to possible commercial 
production. 

H. L. Ailing estimated tonnage and grade for two prop- 
erties in 1917 (22); his estimates, which included one of the 
two properties now outside the park boundary, totaled 
450,000 mt contained graphitic carbon. This study only con- 
sidered the smaller deposit, from outside the park boundary, 
as a demonstrated and identified resource available for 
possible exploitation; the property contains 2.1 Mmt ore at 
4.5 pet C, or about 94,500 mt contained graphitic carbon. 

Basically, little or no exploration or metallurgical 
testing work has been done on the New York flake graphite 
properties since their closure in the early 1920's. For this 
reason, no evaluated demonstrated resources of flake 
graphite in the State of New York have been included in 
this availability analysis. 



Pennsylvania 7 

Pennsylvania's past flake graphite production occurred 
within the area shown in figure 10, primarily at 14 localities 
in Chester County in an area southwest of Phoenixville that 
extends for about 10 km along Pickering Creek Valley. The 
majority of the production occurred from 1860 through 1919. 
Since 1920, the only production has been 360 mt in 1943, 
160 mt in 1947-48, and 410 mt in 1953-54 from a 270-mt/d 
pilot plant constructed for the Bureau of Mines to treat ore 
from the Benjamin Franklin and the Just Mines. 

At present, the only reserve-resource values that have 
been found in the literature refer to measured and inferred 
reserves at the Benjamin Franklin Mine and measured 
reserves at the Just Mine, both in Chester County. These 
values represent the results from trenching and sampling 

'All data for Pennsylvania are from two separate Bureau investigations. 
one in 1949 and our m 1976. 



work done in November 1948. At the time, the two mines 
were estimated to contain a combined measured reserve of 
800,000 mt ore at a weighted average grade of only 2.3 pet 
graphitic carbon; this amount has therefore been considered 
as the demonstrated resource for this study. The identified 
resource contains the measured plus inferred tonnages from 
the prior work and totals 1,015,800 mt ore at a similar 
graphitic carbon content. The extremely low grade and the 
nearness of the deposits to residential areas were reasons 
for not including this tonnage in the evaluated tonnage for 
the availability analysis. 

Texas 

The Southwestern Graphite Mine (fig. 9), located in 
Burnet County, was in continuous production from 1937 
through 1979. During that period the operation probably 
produced an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 mt of high-grade, 
fine-flake graphite products. The only resource estimate 
available is W.D. McMillan's 1949 estimate of 2.4 Mmt. 8 
McMillan's estimated resources for three pit areas (the Cen- 
tral, West, and Northeast Pits), all located within a 
mineralized zone approximately 1,100 m long and 30 to 45 
m wide. The individual pits were separated by low-grade 
areas within the graphite schist unit being mined. 

An estimated 1.6 Mmt ore was extracted from this mine 
during the period 1949-79; based on McMillan's estimate, 
approximately 0.8 Mmt of identified resources would still 
be present today, probably at a grade similar to McMillan's 
estimate of 5.2 pet C. However, the economics of producing 
this tonnage may be completely different from the eco- 
nomics of past production, which involved surface mining 
at a stripping ratio of less than 1:1. In addition, the flake 
size distribution in these ores is indicated to contain a small 
percentage of the coarser flake sizes, which would have an 
effect on any future possible production. 

The resources of flake graphite that could be available 
from the Burnet County Mine were not analyzed in this 
study solely because very few data were available concern- 
ing the actual remaining resource; this places that tonnage 
in the identified resource category. 

Alabama 

The flake graphite deposits of Alabama are located in 
a narrow belt extending in a northeast-southwest direction 
through portions of Clay, Coosa, and Chilton Counties, mid- 
way between Birmingham and Montgomery (fig. 11). There 
are two sections to this belt. The first section, the Clay 
County portion, extends from the extreme northeast cor- 
ner of Clay County for about 40 km in a southwesterly direc- 
tion. This section of the belt widens to 3 to 4 km near a point 
about 15 km southwest of the city of Ashland, where the 
strike of the belt turns to the southeast. The continuity of 
the belt is then broken by a 6-km gap, as shown in figure 
11. The second section of the belt, the Coosa and Chilton 
Counties portion, begins near the town of Goodwater and 
extends southwestward for 50 km with a fairly consistent 
width of 3.2 to 4.8 km. 

Geologically, the graphite belt lies near the northeast 
boundary of the Ashland Series, a complex group of in- 
tensely folded and faulted metamorphosed beds of Precam- 
brian age, composed mostly of a quartz-mica schist in which 
the mica is predominantly muscovite, a garnet-mica schist 
in which biotite is the more common mica, and a hornblende 
schist. All of these rocks are overthrust extensively from 
the southeast and are penetrated by numerous pegmatites 
and granitic intrusions. 



21 



LEGEND 
• City or town 
I X.;3 Graphite belt 
===== Road 
* ' i Railroad 




ALABAMA 



• Montgomery 



FIGURE 11.— Location of the graphite belt in Alabama. 



The last production in the Alabama graphite areas was 
in 1953. This was nearly 10 yr after a series of studies were 
conducted in 1942-44 by the Bureau of Mines and the U.S. 
Geological Survey. These studies resulted in two publica- 
tions (25-26T that summarize the work done, which included 
preliminary examination of 49 properties, detailed prospect- 
ing and mapping of 13 of these properties, 702 graphite 
flotations, 121 mica flotations, 579 screen analyses, and 
2,143 carbon analyses. In this series of studies, the graphite 
processing involved reduction of the ore to minus 10 mesh 
followed by two-stage flotation (rougher and cleaner stages) 
and screening on U.S. standard 20-, 30-, 40-, 50-, 70-, and 
100-mesh screens. 

The 13 areas subjected to detailed prospecting and map- 
ping were estimated to contain a total of 17.39 Mmt of all 
types of materials and the other areas, which were subjected 
only to preliminary investigation, were estimated to con- 
tain 6.12 Mmt of all types of material. The breakdown as 
to type of material is as follows: 



"Plus two classified documents. 



Ore tonnage, 
10 3 mt 
Areas subjected to detailed prospecting 
and mapping: 
Weathered ore: 

Measured 10,030 

Interred 550 

Subtotal 10,580 

Unweathered ore: 

Measured 635 

Inferred 6,170 

Subtotal 6,805 

Areas subjected to preliminary investigation: 

Weathered ore: Inferred 2,490 

Unweathered ore: Inferred 3,630 

The most important of these classifications is the mea- 
sured, weathered tonnage of 10,030,000 mt in the 13 areas 
prospected in detail, since these properties represent nearly 
all of the major past producers and only the weathered ore 
was mined in past operations. Of these 13 areas, 11 are in 
Clay County and 2 are in Coosa County, very close to the 
town of Goodwater. This tonnage estimate as of the mid- 
1940's has served as a base for the present availability 



22 



analysis. The present estimate of demonstrated resources 
of weathered material for this study has been derived by 
subtraction of 126,000 mt of production (before eventual 
closing) at 2 of the 13 properties, addition of 3,843,000 mt 
at 3 properties not included in the mid-1940's list of 13, and 
addition of 7,157,000 mt at several of the properties included 
in the original list of 13 properties. The resulting demon- 
strated resource tonnage of weathered ore for this analysis 
totals 20,904,000 mt averaging 3.7 pet graphitic carbon con- 
tained in the 16 properties listed in table 17. 



Table 17.— Tonnage assignments to individual proposed milling 
units, Alabama graphite area 



Table 18.— Estimates of identified and demonstrated U.S. 
resources of flake graphite ores 



In situ resources. 10 3 mt 



Proposed milling complex 
and properties assigned 


Total assigned 

tonnage, 

10 3 mt 


Wtd av 

grade, wt 

pet C 


Contained 

carbon', 

10 3 mt 


Alabama mill no. 1: 
Alabama No. 1 


5,703 


3.5 


201 


Alabama mill no. 2: 
Ceylon, Epps, Jennings, 
National, Republic 


4,578 


3.1 


142 


Alabama mill no. 3: 
Eagle, Haile, Jefferson, 
Pocahontas, Superior . . 


5,744 


4.1 


236 


Alabama mill no. 4: 
Alabama No. 2, 
Alabama No. 3, C.B. 
Allen, May Brothers, 
Quemalda 


4,879 


4.0 


195 


Total or average . . . 


20,904 


3.7 


774 



'Contained carbon values may not necessarily equal multiplication of ton- 
nage by grade due to rounding of grades. 

As analyzed, the resource tonnages for the 16 individual 
properties vary greatly from 71,000 mt to 5.7 Mmt ore with 
an average of 1.3 Mmt per property. Individual property 
feed grades range from 2.5 to 6.7 pet C. Of the 16 proper- 
ties, 14 are located in Clay County, all within 3 to 15 km 
of Ashland. The other two properties are located in Coosa 
County, near the northeastern corner of area B shown in 
figure 11, near the town of Goodwater. The two Coosa 
County deposits only account for 0.7 of the 20.9 Mmt total. 

Each of the 16 properties were assigned to feed one of 
four separate proposed milling complexes, each having a 
proposed feed capacity of 175,000 mt/yr ore feed (500 mt/d). 
The property assignments were primarily based upon indi- 
vidual property resource tonnages so that the total resource 
available to each mill would be roughly similar, as shown 
in table 17. Some ownership and locational factors also af- 
fected these assignments. 

Summary, U.S. Flake Graphite Resources 

To summarize, flake resources are present in Alabama, 
Alaska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. This study's 
estimate of total identified and demonstrated resources can 
be summarized as shown in table 18. 

Of this total demonstrated flake graphite resources of 
23.8 Mmt, only the Alabama material has been subjected 
to further economic evaluation in this analysis. The Alaska 
tonnage was not analyzed because studies on appropriate 
mining and beneficiation methods have not been conducted, 
owing to a lack of detailed geological data and metallurgical 
testing. The New York tonnage was not evaluated because 
details on appropriate mining and beneficiation methods 
have not been determined to a level sufficient to allow ade- 
quate evaluation. The Pennsylvania resource is very low 
grade and indicated to be located very close to residential 



Identified 


Demonstrated 


23,944 


20,904 


2,305 


NAp 


2,100 


2,100 


1,015 


800 


800 


NAp 



30,164 



23,804 



Description of properties 
included in resource values 

Alabama: Weathered ore in 16 
properties 

Alaska: Imuruk Basin deposits 

New York: 1917 estimate for the 1 
major southeastern Adirondacks 
past producer presently outside 
State park boundary 

Pennsylvania: Tonnages at 2 past 
producers 

Texas: Possible remaining tonnage 

at 1 past producer 

Total 

NAp Not applicable. 



areas. The Texas property was not evaluated because of 
questions regarding the remaining resource value. 



SOUTH AMERICA (BRAZIL) 

According to its 1983 minerals yearbook (27), Brazil's 
total graphite resource consists of 47,708,000 mt of iden- 
tified resources contained in five deposits. Two producing 
mines, Pedra Azul and Itapecerica, accounted for 99.2 pet 
of the total identified resource; the other 0.8 pet (376,000 
mt) was in three nonproducing deposits— the areas of Arcos, 
Mateus Leme, and Sao Francisco de Paule. In this study, 
a total of 28,794,000 mt of demonstrated resources averag- 
ing 10.3 pet C was analyzed; of this total, 98 pet was Pedra 
Azul ore at 10.0 pet C and 2 pet was Itapecerica ore at over 
20 pet C. This 28.8 Mmt of demonstrated resources, essen- 
tially all contained in only one producing operation, com- 
prises 30.4 pet of the total tonnage and 35.8 pet of the total 
contained carbon in the MEC in situ demonstrated 
resources evaluated in this study. 



SUMMARY, EVALUATED MEC 
DEMONSTRATED RESOURCES 

The 94.8 Mmt of total MEC demonstrated, in situ 
resources shown in table 11 should result in 79.7 Mmt of 
recoverable demonstrated resources, which in turn repre- 
sents the mill feed tonnage to the properties analyzed for 
availability. This would yield an estimated total of 5.6 Mmt 
of recoverable graphite products, when estimated mill 
recoveries and product grades are applied. In all countries 
except India and the Republic of Korea, the recoverable 
demonstrated resource represents application of mine 
recovery and dilution factors to the in situ demonstrated 
resources in table 11. In those two countries, a certain por- 
tion of the in situ demonstrated resource has not been 
further analyzed for availability for reasons described 
previously. 

There are three caveats to the estimates that must be 
discussed to place the MEC demonstrated resources of flake 
and high-crystalline natural graphite in th* proper 
perspective: 

1. The type of resource data reported. 

2. The type of resource occurrence that accounts for pro- 
duction and potential in an individual country. 

3. The static nature of this type of analysis. 



23 



The type of resource data reported or available often 
varies not only because of Government policies but also 
because of a reluctance on the part of many mining com- 
panies to divulge data on their operations and properties. 
This is usually due to a number of factors; but, particularly 
in this graphite study, where 5 of the 10 countries included 
have only one producing operation, the dissemination of in- 
formation becomes extremely sensitive. A second aspect of 
this first caveat is that the delineation of resources is a 
costly and time-consuming endeavor and will not be done 
by poorer countries. Examples in this study are the opera- 
tions in Madagascar and Sri Lanka, which will not estimate 
beyond the proven reserve level without a very good reason, 
such as plans for major capital investment. A third aspect 
to consider under this first caveat is the somewhat dated 
information on many of the U.S. graphite deposits where 
many of the available data are from investigations in the 
1920's, 1930's, and 1940's. 

The second caveat deals with the type of resource oc- 
currence in an individual country. For example, the pro- 
duction in India comes from numerous small operations, and 
many of these operations are nearly impossible to evaluate 
for economics; whereas in the Republic of Korea, the demon- 



strated resources of flake graphite consist of two distinct 
types, (1) large-tonnage producing deposits using surface 
mining methods, and (2) many small nonproducing deposits 
that would have to be mined by underground methods. As 
a result, only three Korean properties and one Indian prop- 
erty were evaluated for economics in this study. Respec- 
tively, these properties represent only 48 pet and 3 pet of 
the in situ demonstrated resources shown in table 11 for 
those countries. Another example of this second caveat con- 
cerns all of the underground mines and regards the dilu- 
tion factors at any one point in time. For example, the three 
underground flake graphite operations analyzed all exhibit 
varying dilution rates at different periods in time, and the 
particular dilution factor being used will cause proportional 
changes in any total ore tonnage value. 

The third caveat addresses the static nature of evaluated 
demonstrated resources. The resource estimates for this 
study reflect circa 1982 estimates minus estimated produc- 
tion from producing mines for the intervening years to 
January 1984. This implies that no new reserves or 
demonstrated resources have been added to replace that pro- 
duction, an implication which is highly unlikely, especially 
over the long time periods of this availability study. 



METHODOLOGY AND PRICE PROPORTIONING 



The Bureau of Mines is developing a revolving 
methodology for the analysis of long-run mineral resource 
availability. An integral part of this system is the supply 
analysis model (SAM) (28) developed by personnel of the 
Bureau's Minerals Availability Field Office. This interac- 
tive computer system is an effective mathematical tool for 
analyzing the effects of various parameters upon the 
economic availability of domestic and international 
resources. 

For each operation included in this evaluation, capital 
expenditures were estimated for exploration, acquisition, 
development; mine plant and mine equipment; and con- 
struction and equipping of the mill. The capital expen- 
ditures for the different mining and processing facilities in- 
clude the costs of mobile and stationary equipment, con- 
struction, engineering, infrastructure, and working capital. 
Infrastructure is a broad category that includes costs for 
access and haulage facilities, ports, water facilities, power 
supply, and personnel accommodations. Working capital is 
a revolving cash fund required for operating expenses such 
as labor, supplies, insurance, and taxes. All costs are ex- 
pressed in U.S. dollars. 

The initial capital costs for producing or past produc- 
ing mines and developed deposits have been depreciated ac- 
cording to the actual investment year, and the 
undepreciated portion was treated as a capital investment 
in 1984, the base year of this evaluation. Reinvestments 
will vary according to capacity, production life, and age of 
the facilities. Where appropriate, costs have been updated 
to 1984 U.S. dollars according to local currency factors and 
individual country inflation indexes. These costs are 
weighted proportionally on an individual country basis, 
according to the impact of labor, energy, and other factors 
affecting the cost structure of the graphite industry. 

The total operating cost of a mining project is a com- 
bination of direct and indirect costs. Direct operating costs 
include operating and maintenance labor and supplies, 
supervision, payroll overhead, insurance, local taxation, and 



utilities. The indirect operating costs include technical and 
clerical labor, administrative costs, maintainance of 
facilities, and research. 

The SAM contains a separate tax record file for each 
State and country that includes all the relevant tax param- 
eters under which a mining firm would operate. These tax 
parameters are applied to each mineral deposit under 
evaluation with the implicit assumption that each deposit 
represents a separate corporate entity. Other costs in the 
analysis include standard deductibles such as depreciation, 
depletion, deferred expenses, investment tax credits, and 
tax loss carryforwards. 

An economic evaluation of each property provides an 
estimate of the average total cost of production for the opera- 
tion over its estimated producing life. The evaluation uses 
discounted-cash-flow rate of return (DCFROR) techniques 
to establish the constant-dollar long-run price at which the 
primary product would need to be sold so that revenues are 
sufficient to cover all costs of production, including a pre- 
specified rate of return on investment. 

Detailed cash-flow analyses are generated with the SAM 
system for each preproduction and production year of an 
analyzed mine or deposit beginning with the initial year 
of analysis, which in this study is the year 1984. Upon com- 
pletion of the individual analysis for each deposit, all prop- 
erties were simultaneously analyzed and aggregated into 
availability curves. 

The availability of each graphite product recoverable 
from a deposit is presented graphically, and in the text of 
this study, as a function of the total cost of production 
associated with that product from each deposit. Total 
availability curves are constructed as aggregations of the 
total amount of commodity potentially available from each 
of the evaluated operations, ordered from the deposits hav- 
ing the lowest average total cost per unit of production to 
those having the highest. The potential availability of each 
graphite product at a determined cost or price level can be 
obtained by comparing, for example, an expected long-run 



24 



constant-dollar market price with the average total cost 
values shown on the availability curves. The total recover- 
able tonnage potentially available at or below this price- 
cost value can be read directly from the total availability 
curve. Annual availability curves were also constructed to 
show the quantity of graphite available on an annual basis. 
For nonproducing deposits, these curves account for the time 
lags involved in arriving at full production potential. These 
curves are simply the total availability of graphite in any 
given year, based on the development and production 
schedules assigned to each deposit. 

Certain assumptions are inherent in the total and an- 
nual curves. First, all deposits will produce at full design 
capacity throughout the productive life of the deposit, as 
determined by the level of evaluated resources, except when 
it is known that an operation plans to produce at reduced 
levels for the foreseeable future. Second, each operation will 
be able to sell all of its output at the determined total cost 
and obtain at least the minimum specified rate of return. 
Third, all preproduction development of all undeveloped 
deposits would begin in the first year of this evaluation (year 
N or, in this study, 1984). 

In most previous Bureau of Mines availability studies, 
all costs of production were burdened against the primary 
commodity being evaluated, with all of the byproducts pro- 
viding offsetting revenues based on their market prices ex- 
isting at the time of the study. The fact that graphite A and 
graphite B products are essentially coproducts with different 
price levels meant that this study had to use a price pro- 
portioning methodology for economic analysis. Under this 
price proportioning, costs and revenues are allocated be- 
tween both products, thus providing a determined total cost 
of production for each product. 



In the methodology of price proportioning, the total cost 
of production for each graphite product is determined by 
applying a proportional factor to the total revenues required 
for the specified DCFROR rate. Thus, the total revenues 
required are apportioned to both the recoverable graphite 
A and recoverable graphite B products according to the 
market price differentials. 9 For this analysis, market price 
proportions were assigned on a country basis where prices 
were available for the individual countries. In calculating 
this ratio, the average price differentials between the max- 
imum and minimum prices over the 1979-84 period were 
determined from the prices shown in table 10, which were 
compiled from the February issues of Engineering and Min- 
ing Journal for the years 1979-84. These published prices 
only covered the countries of Madagascar, Norway, Sri 
Lanka, and Federal Republic of Germany, and no published 
prices were available for the countries of Brazil, Korea, 
India, Mexico, Zimbabwe, and Canada. These latter coun- 
tries were assigned price proportions similar to the pub- 
lished prices of Norway since the Madagascar, Sri Lanka, 
and the Federal Republic of Germany prices basically reflect 
unique product situations. As a result, the price proportion- 
ing ratios used in this availability study for the flake 
graphite properties are 2.4:1 for the graphite A and graphite 
B products in Madagascar, which are essentially flake dust 
ratios, and 2.5:1.0 for all other countries. 

These price proportions allow revenues to be divided be- 
tween graphite A and graphite B according to their relative 
market value rather than assigning a price for one product 
and determining a price for the other. Thus, each of the 
coproduct's relative values can be addressed separately 
within a total revenue requirement basis. 



MINING METHODS AND COSTS 



Figure 12 illustrates the breakdown of the total flake 
and high-crystalline resource tonnage as to its presence in 
producing and nonproducing surface, underground, and 
combined surface-underground operations. As shown, 91 pet 
of the total tonnage of mineable material is surface 
mineable while only 4 pet. is mineable by underground 
methods; the remaining 5 pet, representing a Canadian 
resource, will have to be mined by a combination of sur- 
face and underground methods. 

The same total resource breakdown in terms of graphite 
A and graphite B product output tonnages are also shown 
in figure 12. On a product basis, the proportion from pro- 
ducing underground mining operations is higher (12 pet of 
the graphite A and 23 pet of the graphite B), owing to the 
high ore grades at the underground mines. Yet, even on 
a product basis, the producing and nonproducing surface 
operations still are responsible for 83 pet of the recoverable 
graphite A and 72 pet of the recoverable graphite B 
products. 

For comparative economic purposes, it is important to 
categorize the various ores being treated as to their 
graphitic carbon contents and the relative hardness of the 
ores in relation to mining methods utilized. 

There are two basic types of ore represented in figure 
12: (1) vein and lens occurrences of flake and high- 
crystalline graphite and (2) disseminated deposits of flake 
graphite. The vein and lens-type occurrences are repre- 
sented by the four Sri Lankan operations, which mine 



high-crystalline graphite, and by the Zimbabwean, 
Norwegian, and West German flake producers and the one 
nonproducer in Republic of Korea. All of these operations 
are underground mines and process, or will process, 
unweathered ore. The Sri Lankan operations extract high- 
crystalline vein ore of about 85 to 95 pet C, while the Zim- 
babwean, Norwegian, and West German operations mine 
flake graphite ores grading 17.5 to over 26 pet C. All of the 
remaining operations-deposits in this study use or are pro- 
posed to use surface mining to produce graphite products 
from disseminated flake ores grading from 3.5 to slightly 
more than 10 pet C. The exceptions are two Canadian prop- 
erties where a significant portion of the overall resource 
is indicated to require underground mining after the initial 
surface mineable material is exhausted. 



PRODUCERS 

The underground mining of vein or lens occurrences of 
flake and high-crystalline graphite at producing operations 
consists of basically two types: 

• The highly labor intensive mining of very thin (usu- 
ally less than 1 m thick), very high grade veins (85 to 95 
pet C) in Sri Lanka. 



"For modeling pui ^oses, and comparison between operations, this evalua- 
tion assumes that a relationship exists between market prices and the 
average total cost of production. 



25 



Nonproducing combined 

3 pet 
Producing underground 

4 pet 



Producing combined 
2 pet 




A, Total evaluated demonstrated =79.7 Mmt 



Nonproducing combined 
3 pet 



Producing combined 
2 pet 




S, Total recoverable graphite A=3.2 Mmt product 



Nonproducing combined 
3pct 



Producing combined 
2 pet 




C, Total recoverable graphite B-2 4 Mmt product 



FIGuhc 12.— Total demonstrated resources, recoverable 
graphite A, and recoverable graphite B, by status and mine 
type. 



• The relatively high tonnage (25,000 to 50,000 mt/yr), 
sublevel open stoping and/or cut-and-fill operations in Zim- 
babwe, Norway, and the Federal Republic of Germany, 
which mine flake ores grading from 17.5 to slightly more 
than 26 pet C. 

The Sri Lankan operations have very high mining costs, 
estimated at $128/mt to $179/mt ore, despite having 
relatively low labor costs per worker. The high cost level 
is due to the thin veins, high water inflows, poor access, 
and extensive ventilation requirements because of the 
relatively deep workings. By contrast, the European and 
Zimbabwean underground operations cost only $18/mt to 
$43/mt for mining, due to wider mining widths (ranging 
from 2 to 30 m wide) that allow the utilization of lower cost 
cut-and-fill and sublevel stoping methods. 

The surface mining of disseminated flake ores in pro- 
ducing operations are represented by six Madagascar, two 
South Korean, one Indian, one Mexican, and the two 
Brazilian operations, while the Canadian producer is 
presently a surface mining operation but will probably have 
to switch to underground mining within 10 yr. There is wide 
variation among these 13 operations as to the relative hard- 
ness and the grade (3.7 to more than 20 pet C) of the ore 
being mined. 

The softest ore is the Madagascar ore, which is a highly 
weathered, clayey material grading 5 to 10 pet C. This ore 
is transported (usually by trucks) to a sluice for gravity 
transport to field washing plants. Figure 13 shows a sim- 
plified plan view and cross section of one type of layout of 
mining operations in Madagascar. The most cost effective 
mine plan maintains a high ratio of sluicing distance to 
trucking distance. 

At the field washer, the ore slurry passes through a bar 
grizzly to remove the plus 5 mm oversize before it is dis- 
charged to the "poste de debourbage" feed box. As shown 
in figure 13, the location of the feed box must be at least 
5 m below the lowest elevation of the ore horizon being 
worked at the sites. This results in maximum resource ex- 
ploitation through gravity flow. Wastes from the "poste de 
debourbage" are usually disposed of by gravity flow into 
a nearby river. This gravity-assisted transportation of ore 
and wastes is the key to keeping production costs down at 
the Madagascar operations. The Madagascar operations 
typically process a total of 50,000 to 100,000 mt/yr ore in 
three field washing plants and one central refining plant. 
Mine operating costs are estimated to vary between 
$5.26/mt and $6.39/mt ore and could be as high as $12/mt 
for operations with ore capacities under 50,000 mt/yr. 

The South Korean and Mexican surface mines all ex- 
tract flake ores grading slightly less than 4 pet C. These 
operations can produce from such low-grade deposits 
because they all mine a soft, weathered ore that does not 
need drilling and blasting and also because they have essen- 
tially no overburden or waste material and fairly short 
hauls to the mill. Estimated mining costs for these opera- 
tions are all less than $7/mt ore with ore capacities of 21,000 
to 52,000 mt/yr. 

The Indian, Brazilian, and Canadian surface mining 
operations all mine ores grading between 9 and 23 pet C. 
The Indian operation is indicated to be mining a weathered 
ore with labor-intensive surface mining methods, while the 
Canadian operation must drill and blast nearly 100 pet of 
the ore. The extent of weathering of the ore being mined 
at the two Brazilian mines is not known, but indications 
are that at least some, if not most, of the ore must be drilled 
and blasted. Estimated mine operating costs for all of these 
surface mines range from $9.15/mt to $24.60/mt ore. 



26 



PLAN VIEW 




Central refinery 
O 



Field washers 
(Postesde debourbage) 



CROSS SECTION 



Ore and waste 
-horizons mined 
out 



Outline of ore 
horizon 
(topographic high) ^^ 



Field washer 
Poste de debourbage) 




•Unweathered rock ( 
of economic extraction 



FIGURE 13.— Simplified plan and cross section of a typical mine in Madagascar. 



NONPRODUCERS 

The nine nonproducing operations included in this 
analysis are represented by the four proposed milling com- 
plexes in Alabama, two nonproducers in Canada, two non- 
producing concession areas in Madagascar, and one non- 
producing deposit in the Republic of Korea. 

The 16 individual mines that would feed the four pro 
posed milling complexes in Alabama will most likely mine 
weathered, disseminated flake ore. As analyzed, each com- 
plex would receive about 175,000 mt/yr ore from the various 
mines with ore feed grades varying between 2.5 and 6.7 pet 
C. Also as analyzed (mining soft, weathered ore with essen- 
tially no stripping ratio), the estimated mine operating costs 
would range from $4.32 to $5.85/mt ore. The two Canadian 
nonproducers would mine mostly unweathered ore grading 
around 9 to 10 pet C with one of the operations involving 



100 pet surface mining and the other a combination of sur- 
face mining and underground mining over the entire life 
of its resource. Ore capacities proposed for these Canadian 
operations are 110,000 to 150,000 mt/yr, and mining costs 
would range between $14 and $21/mt ore. 

The two Madagascar nonproducers are indicated to be 
planned as replacement operations for some of the presently 
producing operations. They are not expected to be radically 
different in operational characteristics and operating costs 
from the present producers. The South Korean nonproduc- 
ing operation was analyzed solely to obtain an idea of the 
relative economics in the Republic of Korea of mining small 
ore bodies of unweathered 10-pct-C graphite material by 
underground methods with adit entry. This was done 
because this type of occurrence and operation is radically 
different from the present producing operations in the 
Republic of Korea. 



BENEFICIATION METHODS AND COSTS 



Beneficiation processes for flake and high-crystalline 
graphite ores vary from hand-sorting and screening of very 
high grade ore at the four Sri Lankan operations to com- 
plex four- and five-stage flotation plus complex "finishing" 
facilities at the European mills. Interestingly, at both of 
these extremes, the operations are designed to accommodate 
a wide variety of product specifications. The estimated mill 
operating costs at all producing operations and nonproduc- 
ing deposits ranged from $3/mt to $43/mt ore, which reflects 
the wide variations in processes being used. 



PRODUCERS 
High-Crystalline Graphite Operations 

The high-grade, high-crystalline, vein-type graphite ore 
produced by the Sri Lankan mines requires only a slight 
upgrading of the carbon content through hand-sorting and 
sizing-screening operations. Most of the processing of this 



type of graphite ore involves the production of correctly sized 
and graded products to meet specific customer requests. 
Thus, the two major Sri Lankan milling operations analyzed 
(these mills also process the ore from the other two 
evaluated properties) list as many as 50 different products 
as being available in various grades and particle sizes. 
Because of the unique nature of the Sri Lankan operations, 
it will only be mentioned that the capacities of the opera- 
tions are small (11,500 mt/yr ore feed for all four mines at 
full capacity). Even though the processing costs are high, 
ranging from $29.31/mt to $42.74/mt ore feed, processing 
costs only represent about 20 pet of the total mining plus 
milling costs, on a weighted-average basis. 

Flake Graphite Operations 

The total annual ore feed capacity of the 16 producing 
operations treating flake ores is estimated to be close to 
900,000 mt/yr, with the six Madagascar milling operations 
accounting for 37.7 pet of the total. Three extremely large 



27 



mills represent 50 pet of this total annual capacity; the 
largest of these is a 250,000-mt/yr mill located in Brazil, 
and the other two, each with capacities of approximately 
100,000 mt/yr, are located in Madagascar. Another three 
milling operations have treatment capacities ranging from 
approximately 50,000 to 75,000 mt/yr; these mills account 
for another 20 pet of the total milling capacity. Six of the 
mills have capacities of 25,000 to 45,000 mt/yr; the remain- 
ing four are very small, with capacities ranging from only 
9,000 to 12,000 mt/yr. 

The 16 producing flake-graphite milling operations 
analyzed in this study can be roughly classified into three 
groups of processors, as shown in table 19, according to the 
basic markets they serve. Group A consists of the two Euro- 
pean milling operations that have very sophisticated 
"finishing" (regrinding, screening, classification, blending, 
bagging) operations. These sophisticated milling operations 
have been developed around high-grade, high-quality, 
underground flake graphite deposits over a period of many 
years of production. 

Table 19.— Comparison of feed capacities and weighted-average 

mill operating costs for producing flake graphite mills, by market 

groupings 

Number of re feed capacity, wtd av miN 

Group dassificatiom Jffg^ HHHL ° P cos? 9 

in group Total Average $/ mt pre 

Group A 2 65,000 32,500 32.11 

Group B: 

Madagascar 6 338,000 56,300 5.76 

Non-Madagascar 5 334,000 66,800 9.02 

Group C 3 150,000 50,000 15.82 

Total or average . . 16 887,000 55,400 10.62 

^roup A: Sophisticated "finishing" operations; includes production of 
chemically upgraded graphite at 1 mill. 

Group B: Independent operations oriented toward either export or local 
markets. 

Group C: "New" mills; 2 are captive through ownership, 1 is 
Government-owned. 

Group B represents the milling operations in Mada- 
gascar, Brazil, the Republic of Korea, and India. These are 
essentially independent operations that are heavily oriented 
toward either exports (Madagascar and Brazil) or local 
markets (Republic of Korea and India). These operations, 
in general, provide a much narrower range of products than 
the sophisticated mills but a somewhat wider range of prod- 
ucts than the group C mills. 

Group C consists of what could be considered as "new" 
milling operations. Two of these (in Canada and Zimbabwe) 
are essentially "captive" mills (ownership considerations 
indicate that their output goes entirely to the owners), and 
the third is owned by the Mexican Government. All three 
have been constructed since 1965, with two developed in 
the late 1970's. 

As shown in table 19, the sophisticated mills (group A) 
have the lowest average ore feed capacities and much higher 
estimated operating costs. The increased level of operating 
costs is due to their smaller size, to the many additional 
processes employed, and to their locations in Europe with 
higher attendant labor costs. The 11 group B milling opera- 
tions represent the vast majority (75.7 pet) of the total ore 
processing capacity, which is evenly split between the six 
Madagascar and the five non-Madagascar milling opera- 
tions. Of particular note is that estimated milling costs for 
the Madagascar operations are 36 pet less than for the non- 
Madagascar operations, a fact that primarily reflects both 



the need for fewer flotation stages to reach acceptable car- 
bon grades in marketable concentrates and the absence of 
primary crushing and grinding of the Madagascar ores. 
Group C milling operations have significantly higher 
estimated operating costs than the group B mills, probably 
owing to their essentially noncompetitive operation. 

Flake graphite products produced in Madagascar con- 
tain the highest proportion of coarse flakes in the world. 
Typical product specifications are shown in table 20. All 
of the Madagascar plants screen their products to the same 
size ranges so that all products are essentially consistent 
in size; however, the relative proportions of the various prod- 
ucts do vary from operation to operation. 

Table 20.— Specifications for Madagascar graphite products (1) 



Product 



Retained 

on sieve, 

wt pet 



Mesh 
size, U.S. 
standard 



Flake: 

Large flake . . . 

Medium flake . 

Fine flake 

Powder: Extra fine 



75 


40 


97 


60 


25 


40 


97 


80 


25 


30 


75 


60 


95 


80 



80 



A simplified flowsheet from ore to finished product for 
a typical Madagascar operation is shown in figure 14. Raw 
ore is sluiced to the field washing plant, where the ore 
undergoes desliming to remove the clay fraction and is then 
subjected to a rougher flotation to produce a rougher con- 
centrate grading about 60 to 70 pet C. This concentrate is 



WASTE PRODUCTS 



Plus 5-mm stones 



Ore 




Sluice 


Grizzly 
with 5-mm opening 


js 5-mm ore 





Field washer, 

desliming and 

rougher flotation 



*■ Rougher flotation tailing 



Rougher concentrate 
1 60 to 70 pet C 



Raffinage 

ball mill, cleaner 

flotation, drying 



► Cleaner flotation tailing 



Cleaner concentrate 
, 85 pet C 




Tamatave warehouse 
export shipping 



FIGURE 14.— Simplified flowsheet for a typical Madagascar 
operation. 



28 



then transported to the refining mill. At the refining mill, 
the concentrate is ground in ball mills to liberate residual 
gangue and then flows by gravity to cleaner flotation cells. 
Diesel fuel oil and alcohol-based frothers are used in all 
flotations. 

The cleaner concentrate at 85 pet C passes over a final 
desliming wet screen and is pumped to dryer feed bins. The 
dryer product is conveyed to the screening plant, where 
vibrating screens size the graphite flakes to produce the 
flake and powder products shown in table 20. Graphite is 
bagged in 50-kg sacks, then transported to and stored at 
Tamatave for export shipping. 

Table 21 compares the typical grades in the graphite 
concentrates at various stages of flotation at the produc- 
ing MEC flake mills analyzed. Although data are limited, 
concentrate grades resulting from rougher flotation are on 
the order of 60 to 70 pet C. In subsequent cleaner and 
scavenger stages, it appears that the second flotation stage 
increases the carbon content in the concentrate 10 to 15 pet 
and the third stage another 8 to 12 pet. Of note is that the 
Madagascar operations can attain grades of 80 to 85 pet C 
with only two stages of flotation, while the majority of the 
other milling operations need at least three major stages 
of flotation to achieve similar carbon grades in their con- 
centrates, and one of the Korean mills is indicated to need 
four stages to reach this level. Madagascar operations also 
can produce higher grade products (88 to 93 pet C) by utiliz- 
ing a third flotation stage if markets require the higher 
grade products. 

Table 21.— Graphite concentrate grades during various stages 
of flotation for producing flake graphite milling operations 

(Weight percent carbon) 

~ „,,„, n . Ore First Second Third Fourth Fifth 

Groups Country grade (|oat f|oa , f|pat f|Qat (|Qat 

A Germany, Federal 

Republic of 17.5 60.0 70.0 82.0 90.0 96.0 

Norway 26.6 60.0 72.0 80.0 83-84 88.0 

B Brazil* 10-23.0 60.0 NA NA 85-95 NAp 

India 2 10.0 NA NA NA 82-91 NAp 

Korea, Republic of . 3.5-5.0 NA NA 376-85 375-95 NAp 

Madagascar 5.0-9.0 60-70 80-85 88-93 NAp NAp 

C Canada 10.0 NA NA NA NA 85-90 

Mexico 3.7 NA NA NA 86-94 NAp 

Zimbabwe 25.0 64.0 NA NA NA 89-93 

NA Not available NAp Not applicable 

'See table 19 for explanation of group designations. 

2 ln these cases, the actual total number of flotation stages is either unknown 
or unclear. It is believed that to attain the grade ranges shown, at least 4 stages 
are necessary. 

3 1 mill has 3 stages; the other has 4 stages. 

At the more sophisticated (group A) mills in Europe, the 
beneficiation processes reflect the requirement for flexibility 
in graphite milling. Several unique practices are incor- 
porated in the processes at these mills. First, an integral 
part of the operations is the ability to "pull out" the con- 
centrates from each of the separate flotation stages should 
a lower grade concentrate be desired for marketing or blend- 
ing reasons. Second, if the feed contains a particularly high 
amount of coarse flakes and/or it is necessary to produce 
the coarsest flake size product, one of the mills would divert 
the "rougher" concentrate to a "sieve-bend," which can 
separate the plus 30-mesh fraction from the smaller sized 
flakes. The coarser fraction would undergo a special "light 



grinding" and then either be sent to the first cleaner float 
or rejoin the smaller sized flake concentrate that was be- 
ing subjected to a much heavier regrinding. Third, one of 
the mills would cyclone the concentrate ahead of each 
regrinding stage to reduce the amount of material treated 
in regrinding. 

The mills of intermediate sophistication (group B mills) 
retain fewer options in terms of extracting lower grade con- 
centrates since their overall aim is to provide relatively high 
grade flake graphite concentrates for further use or re- 
processing by the buyers. 

The group C mills are unique in that their final 
marketable concentrates are sized into various flake size 
fractions prior to the dewatering and drying stage so that 
the products out of the drying stage basically represent the 
final products for shipment. This contrasts with all of the 
other mills, where sizing is done after dewatering and dry- 
ing of an unsized concentrate. 



NONPRODUCERS 

It is evident that graphite milling procedures are very 
individualistic and depend upon both the type of ore 
available as to grade and flake-size distribution and the par- 
ticular markets being served. Both of these factors will 
determine how much and what type of processing will be 
employed. One must also consider the benefication processes 
to be used at the nonproducing flake deposits in light of the 
fact that only 4 of the 16 analyzed producing flake milling 
operations— the Canadian, the Mexican, the Zimbabwean, 
and the Pedra Azul operation in Brazil— have been brought 
into production within the last 15 to 20 yr, and that 2 of 
these "new" mills provide feed material for the reprocess- 
ing companies that own them. Thus, it is extremely impor- 
tant that the proposed development of a nonproducing flake 
graphite deposit must first clearly define the markets to 
be served, which in turn will define the appropriate pro- 
cessing procedures to be used. 

Unfortunately, for many of the nonproducing flake 
graphite deposits investigated in this study, not even 
preliminary processing studies have been made, let alone 
processing studies developed based upon specific markets. 
A good example of this problem is the Alabama ores. The 
"best case" economic analysis of those ores is heavily depen- 
dent upon the processing investigations done in the 1940's, 
which utilized a flowsheet using only two-stage flotation. 
In fact, indications are that any proposed milling operation 
in Alabama to be developed in the present competitive 
market situation would probably need three or even four 
flotation stages to produce products acceptable to present 
markets. This additional processing would add to the 
already uneconomic status of this resource. 

Thus, the data concerning possible product outputs and 
associated economics for the nonproducing deposits included 
in this study are based on preliminary data and incomplete 
metallurgical results. In addition, the success or failure of 
a graphite milling operation will many times depend more 
upon the resourcefulness of the operators rather than on 
the proposed processing plans. Both of these caveats are 
mentioned in the context of presenting a rather sparse 
discussion on the milling aspects of the nonproducing flake 
deposits. 

Of particular note is that the capacities for each of the 
four milling complexes proposed to treat the Alabama ores 



29 



(175,000 mt/yr ore feed) and for the two nonproducing Cana- 
dian operations (100,000 and 150,000 mt/yr ore) are all 
within the capacity range of the three largest presently pro- 



ducing flake graphite milling operations included this 
study. Indications are that these proposed operations would 
need the economies of scale provided by such capacities. 



TOTAL COSTS OF PRODUCTION 



Operating costs for mining, beneficiation, and transpor- 
tation were estimated for each property. Where possible, 
actual capital and operating costs were gathered from 
published material or contacts with company personnel. 
When actual costs were unavailable, costs were either 
estimated using standardized costing techniques or derived 
from the Bureau's cost estimating system (CES) (29). Mine 
and mill operating costs include materials, utilities, labor, 
administrative costs, facilities maintenance, and supplies. 

A weighted-average total production cost of graphite at 
the breakeven (0-pct DCFROR) rate of return was deter- 
mined for each operation. The breakeven rate of return level 
represents the point where total revenues are just sufficient 
to cover total costs over the life of the operation. The total 
graphite revenues required to meet the 0-pct DCFROR for 
each operation were then divided by the total tonnage of 
recoverable products (graphite A plus graphite B) to pro- 



vide the total production cost of graphite at each operation. 
This evaluation allows for comparisons of graphite produc- 
tion costs to be made between selected operations and 
weighted averages to be compiled for country comparisons. 
Figure 15 illustrates the breakdown of these total pro- 
duction costs for all evaluated graphite operations at a 0-pct 
DCFROR. Ranges and weighted-average costs for each com- 
ponent of the 0-pct DCFROR total cost, as well as the total 
costs at the 15-pct DCFROR level, are presented in table 
22 based on 1984 U.S. dollars per metric ton of total prod- 
uct (graphite A plus graphite B). The weighted-average total 
cost for each country was used to calculate the percentage 
breakdown of the cost components. Thus, percentages may 
not give the median value of the cost ranges and should be 
used only for comparison of tendencies between countries, 
not as the actual average cost for any one operation. 



800 



700- 



KEY 

/ /^ / //, Miscellaneous 
Transportation 
Mill operating 
Mine operating 




z 


V\ 





N0NPR0DUCERS 



PRODUCERS 



FIGURE 15.— Weighted-average production costs for total graphite products, by individual property. 



30 



Table 22.— Range, weighted average, and component percentages of total costs, by country or geographic area 

(dollars per metric ton recoverable graphite) 



Country or 


Mining 


Milling 


Transportation' 


Miscellaneous 2 


Total cost 


geographic area 


0-pct DCFROR 15-pct DCFROR 


PRODUCERS 



Brazil: 

Range 64-118 53-101 18-22 

Average cost 114 98 18 

Pet of total cost 47 40 7 

Europe 3 : 

Range 109-256 111-186 14-23 

Average cost 180 148 18 

Pet of total cost 40 33 4 

Korea, Republic of: 

Range 65-94 198-253 2-4 

Average cost 79 224 3 

Pet of total cost 19 55 1 

Madagascar: 

Range 83-240 66-175 5-57 

Average cost 118 107 37 

Pet of total cost 30 27 9 

Sri Lanka: 

Range 53-246 35-52 28-37 

Average cost 194 47 33 

Pet of total cost 53 13 9 

NONPRODUCERS 

Canada: 

Range 155-269 194-305 54-58 

Average cost 1 94 267 57 

Pet of total cost 31 43 9 

Madgascar: 

Range 95-107 64-90 49-68 

Average cost 99 80 61 

Pet of total cost 23 18 14 

United States: 

Range 105-190 212-350 NAp 4 

Average cost 127 250 NAp 4 

Pet of total cost 26 51 NAp 4 

NAp Not applicable. 

'Transport costs are for transport of products either from mill to port or mill to market. 

includes all capital costs, taxation and royalties. 

3 Europe includes one operation each in Norway and the Federal Republic of Germany. 

"Alabama properties analyzed f.o.b. mill; only operations analyzed as such. 



7-15 

14 

6 

94-106 

100 

23 

101-103 

101 

25 

32-225 

134 

34 

88-217 
95 
25 



88-135 

104 

17 

133-293 

198 

45 

98-158 

114 

23 



146-251 
244 
100 

328-572 
446 
100 

368-452 
407 
100 

313-511 
396 
100 

311-462 
369 
100 



606-653 
622 
100 

387-512 
438 
100 

419-698 
491 
100 



165-296 
286 
100 

421-849 
629 
100 

421-578 
421 
100 

325-698 
487 
100 

341-601 
414 
100 



728-754 
745 
100 

760-926 
823 
100 

703-956 
767 
100 



PRODUCING MINES 

In table 22, cost components for 16 of the 20 producing 
mines are grouped by country, except that the mines in 
Norway and the Federal Republic of Germany are grouped 
under the heading "Europe." Canada, India, Mexico, and 
Zimbabwe each have only one producing mine and are not 
included in the table for confidentiality reasons. 

Brazil, at $244/mt of total recoverable graphite, had the 
lowest weighted-average total cost of production required 
for a 0-pct DCFROR. This is primarily due to low capital 
costs relative to the size of the operations as well as to 
relatively high grades (10 to 23 pet C). The low-cost min- 
ing methods used in Madagascar and the Republic of Korea 
and Sri Lanka's need for only sizing methods to process its 
high-crystalline graphite enable all three of these countries 
are to produce graphite products at weighted averages of 
$396/mt, $407/mt, and $369/mt, respectively. The opera- 
tions in Europe are the highest cost group, despite having 
high ore grades of 18 to 26 pet C. The need for underground 
mining and the complexity of the beneficiation plants 
weight the costs towards the high side at $446/mt of total 
recoverable graphite. 

Transportation costs range from only 1 to 9 pet of the 
total cost and are of some significance, on this basis, only 
in the countries of Madagascar and Sri Lanka. 

Miscellaneous costs represent that portion of the 
weighted-average total cost not included in mining, mill- 
ing, and transportation costs. This includes items such as 
capital costs, taxes, and royalties. In all except the Brazilian 
operations, these costs account for 23 to 34 pet of the total. 



As shown, at the 15-pct DCFROR price determination 
level, the weighted-average total costs for the producers 
shown in table 22 increased from 3.4 pet to 41.0 pet, or 
$14/mt to $183/mt of graphite products. The only change 
in relative positions of the countries in terms of their total 
costs is that the Madagascar output becomes more expen- 
sive than the South Korean products. The two lowest 
percentage increases occur for the South Korean and the 
Sri Lankan operations, while the highest occurs at the Euro- 
pean operations. This is most likely a reflection of the 
relative complexity and/or the age of the milling operations. 



NONPRODUCING DEPOSITS 

The nonproducing deposits include four proposed mill- 
ing complexes in Alabama, two each in Madagascar and 
Canada, and one in the Republic of Korea. The nonproduc- 
ing deposit in the Republic of Korea (not shown in table 22), 
would extract ore by underground mining. As analyzed, its 
overall economics are competitive on a total product basis. 
However, the deposit is too small to have its own mill; thus, 
development would probably rely upon custom milling at 
the existing mills, and a major portion of its products would 
be of the smaller sized graphite B flake products. 

On a weighted-average basis, at the 0-pct DCFROR 
level, the nonproducing Madagascar deposits, at $438/mt 
product, are slightly more expensive than the producing 
Madagascar operations, at $396/mt product. The higher cost 
level is due to higher transport costs ($61 versus $37) and 



31 



higher miscellaneous costs (i.e., capital costs) at $198 ver- 
sus $134. Both of these differences reflect the fact that both 
of these deposits are more remote than the present 
Madagascar producers. 

The Canadian and U.S. nonproducing deposits, with 
total costs requirements for a 0-pct DCFROR averaging 
$622/mt and $491/mt product, respectively, are 39.5 pet and 
12.3 pet higher than the weighted-average for the 
underground producers in Europe, which represented the 
highest cost flake operations in the producing grouping 
shown in table 22. The price determination for the Alabama 
graphite deposits reflects a "best case" scenario in terms 
of operational parameters such as waste to ore ratio, number 
of mill processing stages, f.o.b. point, and expected feed 
grade of the ore. A "worst case" scenario has also been 
analyzed in this study, and a comparison between the two 
is reported in appendix A. 

The high estimates for the two Canadian nonproducers 
reflect the situation that one of the deposits contains a com- 
bination of surface and underground mineable resources 
and the other, which contains a 100-pct surface mineable 
resource, has a fairly remote location. In addition, both 
would be mining unweathered ore with relatively higher 
stripping ratios than the presently producing MEC surface 
mining operations. 

At the 15-pct DCFROR level, the total cost for all of 
these nonproducers rises dramatically, increasing 19.8 pet 



for the Canadian deposits, 56.2 pet for the U.S. deposits, 
and 87.9 pet for the Madagascar nonproducers. 

TRANSPORTATION COSTS TO PORTS 
OR MARKETS 

As noted earlier, the costs for transporting flake and 
high-crystalline graphite products to ports and/or markets 
do not constitute a major percentage of the total costs for 
the individual countries shown in table 22. The Madagascar 
and Sri Lankan operations, at 9 pet, show the highest 
transportation percentage of total costs in the producing 
countries shown in table 22. 

For all of the operations analyzed, the costs for transport 
to markets and/or ports shows a wide range, from about 
$2/mt to as high as $68/mt product. The highest costs (in 
the $40/mt to $68/mt range) belong to the Canadian, Mex- 
ican, and Zimbabwean (not shown in table 22) operations, 
all of which involve fairly lengthy truck or truck plus rail 
distances. The medium costs ($20/mt to $40/mt range) are 
those in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Federal Republic of 
Germany, and the lowest transport costs (less than $15/mt) 
are at the South Korean and the Norwegian operations. The 
"best case" economic scenario for the Alabama flake 
graphite deposits (shown in table 22) represents an f.o.b. 
mill situation where transport costs to port or market are 
not included. These were the only group of operations or 
deposits that were analyzed as such. 



CAPITAL COSTS, NONPRODUCING DEPOSITS 



In this study, capital cost requirements were estimated 
for both the producing operations and the nonproducing 
deposits. It was found that most of the producing operations 
had been in production long enough that the effect of 
undepreciated capital was not particularly significant. Such 
was not the case for the nonproducers where the vast ma- 
jority had capital investments accounting for 36 to 46 pet 
of the total production cost at a 0-pct DCFROR. This dif- 
ference between the producers and nonproducers can be 
primarily illustrated by the differential total costs at the 
0- and 15-pct DCFROR levels shown in table 22. 

Table 23 shows this study's estimates of capital cost re- 
quirements for major investment categories at the Cana- 
dian, U.S., and Madagascar nonproducing deposits. The 

Table 23.— Total capital cost estimates for nonproducing flake 
graphite properties, selected countries 

(U.S. dollars per metric ton' of annual graphite concentrate capacity) 

Canada United States Madagascar 

Development 1 88 57 

Mine 105 206 835 

Beneficiation 542 1,240 853 

Total 1 835 1,503 1,688 

'Over life of demonstrated resource. 

Madagascar nonproducing deposits art past producers that 
are estimated to not require much, if any, preproduction 
waste removal. Therefore, development costs, as shown in 



the table, are essentially nil. At the other extreme, the 
development costs for the Canadian nonproducers reflect 
the combination of surface and underground development 
at one deposit and a fairly high amount of preproduction 
stripping of unweathered waste rock at the other. The 
Alabama deposits would have fairly low development costs, 
since many of the deposits have seen past production and 
a major portion (but not all) of the demonstrated resources 
analyzed are expected to require little preproduction waste 
removal of fairly soft, weathered material. 

The higher combined mine and beneficiation capital 
costs for the U.S. nonproducers relative to the Canadian 
nonproducers on a product basis essentially reflects a ma- 
jor grade difference in the ores (U.S. deposits average 3.7 
pet C, compared with 9 to 10 pet C for the Canadian 
deposits.) For both of the Madagascar nonproducers, the 
capital cost estimates are order of magnitude estimates only 
and the mine-mill breakdown shown is a rough estimate 
only. It is noted that the Madagascar nonproducers' capital 
requirements include a fairly heavy amount of infrastruc- 
ture investment, which is evenly distributed to the mine 
and mill categories in table 22. 

It is also of note that in terms of relative sizes of the 
proposed operations, the six proposed mills for the U.S. and 
Canadian nonproducers would average 160,000 mt/ore, an 
average approximately three times that of the proposed 
capacities at the two Madagascar nonproducers. 



32 



AVAILABILITY ANALYSES 



Two separate analyses of flake and high-crystalline 
graphite resources are presented in this section. The first 
analysis involved determination of 0- and 15-pct DCFROR 
price determinations for the availability of graphite A prod- 
ucts given a proportional market price for graphite B prod- 
ucts, and the second analysis involved similar price deter- 
minations for the availability of graphite B products given 
a proportional market price for graphite A products. 



GRAPHITE A 
Total Availability 

Figure 16 shows the total availability and total cost of 
producing graphite A from the 29 evaluated graphite pro- 
perties. The total cost in this illustration represents the pro- 
portioned total cost of production required for graphite A 
at both a 0- and 15-pct DCFROR. For reference purposes, 
table 24 summarizes the total availability of all resources 
and products by operational status and by country. This 
summary table presents total annual ore capacity, total 
recoverable demonstrated resource tonnage (i.e., mill feed 
tonnage), total recoverable graphite A, total recoverable 
graphite B, and total combined recoverable graphite prod- 



uct tonnage for each country. As shown in the table, of the 
total 3.17 Mmt of available graphite A products, 2.15 Mmt 
are present in 16 producing flake operations, 0.13 Mmt are 
present in four high-crystalline graphite producers in Sri 
Lanka, and 0.89 Mmt are in 9 nonproducing flake deposits. 
Figure 16 illustrates that 1.74 Mmt of recoverable 
graphite A is economic at a 15-pct DCFROR total produc- 
tion cost level of $600/mt or less. This tonnage represents 
54.9 pet of the total graphite A available in all the evaluated 
deposits and 76.3 pet of the graphite A available in all the 
20 producing operations; 10 of the 20 producers— 4 in 
Madagascar, 3 in Sri Lanka, 2 in Brazil and 1 in 
Zimbabwe— account for the 1.74 Mmt. At a 15- pet DCFROR 
cost level of $800/mt or less, 67.2 pet (2.13 Mmt) of the total 
graphite A available in all the evaluated deposits, and 93.5 
pet of the graphite A available in producing operations is 
economic; the additional 0.39 Mmt being contained in seven 
additional producing operations. The two producers in 
Brazil and the six producers in Madagascar contain 84.1 
pet of this 2.13 Mmt available at a total cost of less than 
$800/mt; all their graphite A products can be produced at 
below $698/mt at a 15-pct DCFROR. It is noted that the 
Brazilian and Madagascar graphite A products do not com- 
pete directly, as the Brazilian graphite A products are 
predominantly minus 60- and plus 100-mesh flakes, while 
the Madagascar products are mostly plus 60-mesh products. 



1.800 



1,600 

e 

<* 1,400 



CD 
01 



1.200 - 



o 1000 

~3 ' 



h 

cn aoo f 

o 

u 



j 

< 600 



400 



I 

I 




15-pct DCFROR 



O-pct DCFROR 



200 



U 



1500 



2,000 



2500 



300C 

i 



500 1000 

t 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE GRAPHITE A. 10 3 mt 

FIGURE 16.— Total graphite A potentially recoverable from producing mines and nonproducing deposits. 



3500 



33 



Table 24.— Annual ore capacity, total recoverable demonstrated resources and total recoverable graphite products, 

by country and status 



Country Number of Ore capacity, 

' deposits 10 3 mt/yr 

Flake: 

Producers: 

Brazil 2 280 

Europe 2 65 

Korea, Republic of . . . 2 46 

Madagascar 6 338 

Others 2 _4 158 

Total 16 887 

Nonproducers: 

Canada 2 259 

Korea, Republic of . . . 1 15 

Madagascar 2 98 

United States _4 700 

Total 9 1,072 

High-crystalline: Sri Lanka .... 4 12 

Grand total 29 1,971 ~ 

1 Graphite A + graphite B. 

includes 1 deposit each from Canada, India, Mexico, and Zimbabwe. 



Total resources, 10 3 mt 



Demonstrated 
resources 



Graphite 
A 



Graphite 
B 



Total recoverable 
graphite products 1 



27,354 
1,556 
1,695 

12,940 
5,603 



1,172 

183 

23 

619 

156 



49,148 



2,153 



6,225 

115 

3,123 

20,904 

30,367 

154 



309 
1 
140 
435 
885 
127 



79,669 



3,165 



1,034 

153 

51 

82 

522 



1,842 



227 

10 

23 

343 

603 



2,445 



2,206 

336 

74 

701 

678 



3,995 



536 
11 
163 
778 
1,488 
127 



5,610 



At $l,350/mt, over 99 pet of the total 3.17 Mmt of graphite 
A products are economic. These 15-pct DCFROR cost levels 
can be compared with the higher range of the f.o.b. prices 
shown in table 10 for the year 1984, which range from 
$600/mt to $l,500/mt for Madagascar, Norway, and Sri 
Lanka. 

At the 0-pct DCFROR price determination level, 1.94 
Mmt of graphite A products are available at costs less than 
$500/mt, and 2.43 Mmt are economic at costs less than 
$600/mt. About 95.3 pet of the former tonnage is contained 
in producing operations, compared with 88.1 pet of the lat- 
ter tonnage. 

The nine nonproducers contain an estimated 0.89 Mmt 
of recoverable graphite A products, with the U.S. and Cana- 
dian properties containing 0.75 Mmt (83 pet). All of the U.S. 
and Canadian operations would require over $900/mt for 
a 15-pct DCFROR on their graphite A production. In- 
terestingly, the two Madagascar nonproducers also would 
require fairly high ($800/mt to $l,050/mt) graphite A prices 
to obtain a 15-pct DCFROR. At the breakeven level (0-pct 
DCFROR), the two Madagascar nonproducers are much 
more competitive, at between $410/mt and $590/mt, while 
the U.S. nonproducing deposits in Alabama would have a 
weighted-average total cost of $664/mt graphite A product. 
Three of the proposed milling complexes in Alabama would 
have estimated weighted-average costs below $615/mt; 
however, as noted previously, the above results of economic 
analysis of the Alabama flake graphite deposits can be con- 
sidered as a "best case" economic scenario. (See appendix 
A for a comparison of the "best" and "worst" case price 
determinations at a 15-pct DCFROR.) 

Annual Availability 

Figure 17 presents annual availability curves at a 15-pct 
DCFROR for graphite A producers and nonproducers. For 
the producers, the base year of 1984 shows a total of about 
49,500 mt of graphite A available at a maximum cost of 
$l,628/mt, 92.4 pet of which is available at costs under 
$800/mt. The annual availability from these producers in- 
creases to a peak of 53,900 mt/yr by 1989 and then tapers 
off to a level of 36,500 mt/yr by the year 2004. 

The 26.2-pct decline in annual output of graphite A at 
the producing mines by the year 2004 should not be taken 
as an indication of a decline in the availability of graphite 
A; it simply represents a static analysis of the depletion of 



1984 demonstrated resources at the producing flake and 
high-crystalline graphite operations. It is likely that addi- 
tional resources will be discovered at the producing opera- 
tions and that some resources presently classified as infer- 
red will be upgraded to the demonstrated level in the future. 
Some of this decline in output at the producing mines 
could be replaced by output from the nine nonproducing 
deposits analyzed. In this regard, figure 17 also illustrates 
the annual availability of graphite A from the nine non- 
producing deposits at a 15-pct DCFROR. Since actual start- 
up dates for these nonproducers are impossible to predict, 
annual production levels are based on the following 
assumptions: 

1. Preproduction development at all deposits will begin 
in year "N" (1984). 

2. All operations presently on standby status, of which 
there are only two in this analysis, will be brought back 
into production within the year (N + 1) to (N + 4). 

3. All undeveloped properties will be developed and 
commence production within the year (N + 3) to (N + 5). 

As shown, the annual availability of graphite A from 
the nonproducing deposits would peak in the year (N + 3) 
at 30,700 mt/yr at cost levels ranging from $670/mt to 
$l,350/mt. As much as 85.5 pet of this annual output would 
be available at estimated total costs under $l,020/mt. After 
20 yr (N + 20), annual availability from the nonproducers 
would still be at a level of 25,000 mt/yr. Indications are that 
this tonnage is more than adequate to replace the decline 
in output at the producing deposits, should such a situa- 
tion occur. 

It should be noted that the four proposed milling com- 
plexes to treat the Alabama graphite resource could have 
the combined capability of producing 12,300 mt of graphite 
A in the year (N + 3) if all were developed at the same time. 
In addition, all four could maintain this production for at 
least 20 yr (N + 20). Such a situation would require cost 
levels ranging from $915/mt to $l,350/mt graphite A at a 
15-pct DCFROR under the "best case" scenario. 

GRAPHITE B 
Total Availability 

Figure 18 shows the total availability and total produc- 
tion cost of graphite B from 23 of the 29 operations-deposits 
studied. Two flake operations and all four of the Sri Lankan 



34 



1,800 
1,600 
1,400 
1,200 
1,000 
800 
E 600 



| 400 



c 
o 

"t 200 

H 
(/) 
O 
O 



A , Producing mines 



r-2004 



1984 1989 

r 



i 



^j 



j. 



j 



J~J 






10 



15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 



55 



e* 



600 






1,400- 



1,200 



1,000 



800 



600 



400 



B, Nonproducing deposits 



N + 20 

N + 15 



f 



^zi 



N + 3 



N Year preproduction development begins 



-L 



5 10 15 20 25 30 

ANNUAL RECOVERABLE GRAPHITE A, I0 3 mt/yr 
FIGURE 17.— Potential annual availability of graphite A from producing mines and nonproducing deposits. 



35 



high-crystalline operations were omitted from the graphite 
B curve. In the two omitted flake properties, a clear inter- 
pretation of the level of graphite B production could not be 
made. The total production cost shown in figure 18 
represents the proportioned total cost of production required 
for graphite B at both a 0- and 15-pct DCFROR. For 
reference, table 24 shows recoverable graphite B resources 
on a country basis. 



As shown in figure 18, 1.08 Mmt (44.1 pet) of the total 
recoverable graphite B is available at costs under $200/mt 
including a 15-pct DCFROR. Five producers, one in Brazil 
and four in Madagascar, account for all of the graphite B 
in this cost category, with the one Brazilian producer ac- 
counting for 96 pet of this total. At costs under $325/mt, 
70.0 pet (1.71 Mmt) of the total recoverable graphite B is 
available, with six producers and one small nonproducer 



35 



600 



+J 
E 
\ 
W 

CO 
0) 



c 
o 

~3 



I- 

o 
u 

< 



500 



400 



300 



O 200 (- 

r- 



100 



15-pct DCFROR 



r - 



r- -I 



0-pct DCFROR 



500 1,000 1500 2,000 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE GRAPHITE B. 10 3 mt 



2,500 



FIGURE 18.— Total graphite B potentially recoverable from producing mines and nonproducing deposits. 



providing the additional 0.63 Mmt. Another 0.59 Mmt of 
graphite B products become available at cost levels rang- 
ing from $325/mt to $450/mt, with 88.4 pet of this additional 
tonnage contained in seven nonproducing deposits. Essen- 
tially 94.3 pet of the total available graphite B can be pro- 
duced at costs under $450/mt including a 15-pct DCFROR, 
with the remainder requiring very high total production 
costs of between $540/mt and $650/mt. 

At a 0-pct DCFROR, 1.95 Mmt of graphite B products 
(79.7 pet of the total) can be produced at costs under $250/mt, 
and all can be produced at less than $510/mt. Only 12.6 pet 
of the tonnage available at a cost under $250/mt is from 
nonproducing deposits. 

The nine nonproducers contain 0.60 Mmt of the 2.45 
Mmt of available graphite B, with 94.5 pet contained in the 
four proposed U.S. and two proposed Canadian operations. 
The vast majority (86.9 pet) of the nonproducing graphite 
B products would require cost levels ranging from $325/mt 
to $450/mt at a 15-pct DCFROR. However, five of the six 
U.S. and Canadian nonproducers fall within a narrow range 
of $365/mt to $410/mt. These cost ranges are significantly 
higher than typical present market prices of $200/mt to 
$350/mt, as shown by the low range of the 1984 prices in 
table 10 for Madagascar, Norway, and the Federal Republic 
of Germany. 

At a 0-pct DCFROR, 0.31 Mmt of graphite B from non- 
producers can be produced for under $250/mt, and 0.29 Mmt 
can be produced at cost levels between $250/mt and 
$510/mt; the first group is dominated by three U.S. non- 
producers (89.3 pet), and the second group is represented 



by two Canadian and one U.S. nonproducer. The three most 
economic U.S. milling complexes could all produce their 
graphite B at cost levels ranging from $235/mt to $250/mt. 
Again, the above results of the economic analyses should 
be considered as a "best case" scenario for the Alabama 
graphite deposits. 



Annual Availability 

Figure 19 presents annual availability curves at a 15-pct 
DCFROR for graphite B producers and nonproducers. For 
the producers, the base year of 1984 shows a total of 35,200 
mt of graphite B available, 91.0 pet of which is available 
at under $325/mt at a 15-pct DCFROR. Availability from 
the producers increases to a peak of 37,300 mt/yr by 1989 
and then tapers off to a level of 29,300 mt/yr by the year 
2004. 

As was the case for graphite A, the graphite B annual 
curve shows a decline in output at the producing mines of 
nearly 16.8 pet over the 20 yr from N to (N + 20). Again, 
this effect should not necessarily be taken as an indication 
of a decline in graphite B availability; it simply represents 
a static analysis of the depletion of 1984 demonstrated 
resources at the producing flake and high-crystalline 
graphite operations. 

As shown in figure 19 for the nonproducers, the nine 
proposed operations could be producing 23,500 mt/yr of 
graphite B products in year (N + 3) at cost levels ranging 
from $265/mt to $540/mt including a 15-pct DCFROR, with 



36 



00 
CD 



c 
o 

~3 



o 
o 



O 

t- 



fOO 


1 1 I 1 

A , Producing mines 


1 l 

r - 


-2004 


1 

984 


1989 


600 


- 




/ 




— 


500 


- 








- 


400 


- 


r 1 

i 
__i 
i 

i 
i 




J 




- 


300 




i 

i 

i 

1 


r 


!•■ 




_j r J 

l 
i 




200 


1 —i-- 1 






100 


i i i i 


■ i 















10 



20 



25 



30 



35 



40 



600 



500 



400 



300- 



200 



B , Nonproducing deposits 



N + 20 



N+15 



■N + 3 



J' 






f J 



I r 



N Year preproduction develcpment begins 



5 10 15 20 

ANNUAL RECOVERABLE GRAPHITE B, I0 3 mt/yr 

FIGURE 19.— Potential annual availability of graphite B from producing mines and nonproducing deposits. 



25 



87.4 pet available at prices under $410/mt. Availability from 
the nonproducers would be at a level of 20,656 mt/yr after 
15 yr (N + 15), and at 15,742 mt/yr after 20 yr. These ton- 
nages indicate that the decline in annual output at the pro- 
ducing deposits shown in figure 19 could be easily replaced 
by output from the nonproducers, should such a situation 
occur. 

The four proposed milling complexes for treating thp 



Alabama graphite resources could have a combined 
capability of producing 11,051 mt/yr of graphite B in the 
year (N + 3), provided all were developed in year N and 
could maintain production of between 9,300 to 12,800 mt/yr 
for approximately 25 yr before beginning a steep decline. 
Such a situation would require an estimated total cost of 
$540/mt of graphite B for all four to be in production at a 
15-pct DCFROR. 



37 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



This study has analyzed the economics of producing a 
total of 5.6 Mmt of graphite products from 29 mines and 
deposits in 11 MEC countries. The 20 producing mines, with 
recoverable demonstrated resources of 49.3 Mmt of 
mineable material, are estimated to be capable of produc- 
ing a total of 2.28 Mmt of recoverable graphite A products 
and 1.84 Mmt of recoverable graphite B products. The nine 
nonproducing deposits, with 30.4 Mmt of recoverable 
demonstrated resources, could potentially recover 0.9 Mmt 
of graphite A and 0.6 Mmt of graphite B. The graphite A 
products are essentially equivalent to flake graphite prod- 
ucts of plus 80- or plus 100-mesh flakes and to lump and 
chip high-crystalline products from Sri Lanka. The graphite 
B products are essentially equivalent to flake products of 
minus 80- or minus 100-mesh flakes. Although Sri Lanka 
does produce minus 100-mesh high-crystalline graphite 
products, this production occurs only on demand. Because 
of that, all of the Sri Lankan production is included in the 
graphite A category. 

The six Madagascar operations, which produce most of 
the coarsest sized graphite A products (plus 60-mesh flakes), 
can produce at a weighted-average total cost of production 
of $396/mt of graphite products (graphite A plus graphite 
B) at a 0-pct DCFROR. The four Sri Lankan operations pro- 
ducing high-crystalline graphite from vein deposits can pro- 
duce at $369/mt at a 0-pct DCFROR. 

The fairly new Pedra Azul operation in Brazil accounts 
for 33.6 pet of total recoverable demonstrated resource ton- 
nage in this study and 37.1 pet of the total recoverable 
graphite products, as well as 33.1 pet of the graphite A and 
42.3 pet of the graphite B products. The mill at this opera- 
tion has the largest capacity of the producing flake opera- 
tions and could be expanded in the future, should graphite 
demand increase. Because of this particular operation, 
Brazil dominates the less coarse (60- to 80-mesh and 60- to 
100-mesh flakes) graphite A products and also the graphite 
B products. Both of the Brazilian operations included in this 
analysis are estimated as able to produce their total 
graphite output at a very low weighted-average cost of only 
$244/mt at a 0-pct DCFROR. The recoverable graphite A 
product from operations in the Republic of Korea and India 
is produced mainly for domestic consumption, while the 
graphite A product at the Mexican, Canadian, and Zimbab- 
wean operations is exported to reprocessors in Europe and 
the United States. 

The centrally planned economy countries of China and 
the U.S.S.R. are estimated to have annual production levels 
for flake production equivalent, or slightly larger, in size 
to total present MEC capacity. The U.S.S.R. supplies 
graphite primarily to the Eastern European countries and 
has very seldom exported to MEC's in recent years. China, 
on the other hand, has increased graphite exports to the 
United States 16-fold since 1980 and has become a major 
price setter in the graphite market. Both of these countries 
are discussed in some detail in appendix B. 

Total production costs at breakeven (0-pct DCFROR) cost 
levels ranged from $146/mt to $l,268/mt for the graphite 
A products and from $136/mt to $511/mt for the graphite 
B products. At a 15-pct DCFROR, the cost ranges increased 
to $165/mt to $l,628/mt for graphite A products and 
$141/mt to $655/mt for graphite B products. About 67 pet 
of the total graphite A tonnage and 93.5 pet of the graphite 
A tonnage in producers are economic at prices of $800/mt 
or less at a 15-pct DCFROR; 70 pet of the total graphite B 



tonnage and 92.3 pet of the graphite B tonnage in producers 
are economic at prices of $325/mt or less at a 15-pct 
DCFROR. Annual availability curves show the graphite A 
production level decreasing 26.8 pet (12,941 mt/yr) and the 
graphite B production level decreasing 16.2 pet (5,933 mt/yr) 
by the year 2004. However, these declines represent a static 
analysis of 1984 demonstrated resources, which could be 
increased at many of the producers by future development 
work. 

The 9 nonproducing properties analyzed in this study 
include the 4 proposed milling complexes treating ore from 
16 separate proposed mining operations in the Alabama 
graphite area, 2 nonproducing deposits in Canada, 2 in 
Madagascar, and 1 in Republic of Korea. The Republic of 
Korea deposit is a small deposit of mostly fine-flake graphite 
of a different nature than that from the present Republic 
of Korean producers, and was analyzed because of that dif- 
ference. The two Madagascar nonproducers were analyzed 
because they have been indicated to be planned 
replacements for eventual depletion of several present pro- 
ducers. The two Canadian nonproducers represent the only 
Canadian nonproducing flake deposits that presently have 
detailed resource estimates available. 

Although the United States has identified flake 
resources in Alaska (215,000 mt contained graphite), New 
York (95,500 mt), Pennsylvania (23,400 mt), and Texas 
(41,600 mt), the only demonstrated resource analyzed for 
economics was the resource in Alabama. The other iden- 
tified and demonstrated resources (see table 18) were ex- 
cluded from economic analysis mainly because of a lack of 
updated resource, metallurgical, or mining data. 

The annual availability curves for the nonproducers 
show that, given stable price levels of $800/mt to $l,350/mt 
for graphite A products and $336/mt to $540/mt for graphite 
B products, as much as 30,700 mt/yr of graphite A products 
and 23,500 mt/yr of graphite B products could be produced 
from the nine nonproducers at a 15-pct DCFROR within 3 
yr after development begins. 

In conclusion, the following major points should be 
made: 

1. The flake and high-crystalline natural graphite in- 
lustry, although presently snowing a much wider range of 
suppliers than 20 yr ago, still appears to be a difficult in- 
dustry to enter at the mining-milling level. There is no pres- 
ent shortage of supplies, and none appears to be on the 
horizon. Present markets are essentially well-served by ex- 
isting producers such as Sri Lanka for high-crystalline 
graphite, Madagascar for coarse flake products, Brazil and 
China for less coarse flake products, and the European 
operations for less coarse and powder flake products. 

2. The nine nonproducing deposits analyzed in this 
study would require costs and price levels approximately 
twice the present market prices in order to cover all costs 
of production and receive a 15-pct DCFROR. However, many 
unknowns concerning the best processing procedures to be 
used for many of these nonproducing deposits exist and 
could affect actual costs when, or if, they do go into 
production. 

3. It is recommended that updated mining and 
metallurgical test work be done on the various flake 
resources located in Alabama, Alaska, New York, and 
Texas. These studies should be made with particular 
reference to types of products that would be most useful. 



38 



REFERENCES 



1. Industrial Minerals (London). Graphite— Drawing on Mixed 
Sources. No. 202, July 1984, pp. 39-55. 

2. Kenan, W. M. Economics of Graphite. Soc. Min. Eng. AIME, 
preprint 84-300, 1984, 4 pp. 

3. Taylor, H. A., Jr. Graphite. Ch. in BuMines Minerals Year- 
book 1984, v. 1, pp. 437-447. 

4. . Graphite. Ch. in Mineral Facts and Problems, 1985 

Edition. BuMines B 675, 1985, pp. 339-348. 

5. . Graphite. Ch. in BuMines Minerals Yearbook 1983, 

v. 1, pp. 413-423. 

6. Weaver, L. K. Graphite. Ch. in BuMines Minerals Yearbook 
1969, v. 1-2, pp. 539-545. 

7. U.S. Office of Industrial Materials (Dep. Commerce). 
Graphite, Natural— Malagasy Crystalline. National Stockpile Pur- 
chase Specification, May 1970, p. 4. 

8. Tron, A. R. The Production and Uses of Natural Graphite. 
Dep. Sci. and Ind. Res., London, 1964, 75 pp. 

9. Chemical Marketing Reporter. Jan 16, 1984, p. 34. 

10. Industrial Minerals (London). Graphite Prices Altered in IM. 
No. 203, Aug. 1984, p. 17. 

11. Engineering and Mining Journal. Market. Feb. issues, 
1979-84. 

12. U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey. Principles 
of a Resource/Reserve Classification for Minerals. U.S. Geol. Surv. 
Circ. 831, 1980, 5 pp. 

13. Besairie, H. Graphite. Ch. in Gites de Mineraux de 
Madagascar. Tananarive, Madagascar, v. 1-2, 1966, pp. 187-216. 

14. Murdock, T. G. Mineral Resources of the Malagasy Republic. 
BuMines IC 8196, 1963, 147 pp. 

15. Oxford, T. P. Development of Engineering and Cost Data for 
Foreign Graphite Properties (contract J0225019, Zellars- Williams, 
Inc.). BuMines OFR 169-84, 1984, 18 pp.; NTIS PB 85-103737. 

16. India, Bureau of Mines. Graphite. Ch. in Indian Minerals 
Yearbook, 1978-79, pp. 564-583. 

17. Republic of Korea, Institute of Energy and Resources. Geology 
of Korea. 1975, 139 pp. 

18. Gallagher, D. Non-Metallics and Miscellaneous Metals. Ch. 



in Mineral Resources of Korea. Min. Br., Ind. and Min. Div. 
USOM/Korea, v. VI-B, 1963, pp. 13-14. 

19. Ministry of Energy and Resources (Republic of Korea). 
Reserves of Graphite, 1983 (table). 

20. Papertzian, V. C, and P. W. Kingston. Graphite Develop- 
ment Potential in Eastern Ontario. Can. Geol. Surv., Open File 
Rep. 5377, 1982, 89 pp. 

21. Weis, P. L. Graphite. Ch. in United States Mineral Resources. 
U.S. Geol. Surv., Prof. Paper 820, 1973, pp. 277-283. 

22. Ailing, H. L. the Adirondack Graphite Deposits. NY State 
Mus. Bull. 199, July 1, 1917, 149 pp. 

23. Mitchell, D. W., and C. H. Broeded. Graphite. New England- 
New York Inter-Agency Committee, Miner. Resor. Study and Rep. 
Group, Jan. 1955, 23 pp. 

24. Cameron, E. N., and P. L. Weis. Strategic Graphite, A Survey. 
U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 1082-E, 1960, pp. 201-321. 

25. Clemmer, J. B., R. W. Smith, B. H. Clemmons, and R. H. 
Stacy. Flotation of Weathered Alabama Graphitic Schists for Cruci- 
ble Flake. AL Geol. Surv. Bull 49, 1941, 101 pp. 

26. Pallister, H. D., and J. R. Thoenen. Flake-Graphite and 
Vanadium Investigation in Clay, Coosa, and Chilton Counties, Ala. 
BuMines RI 4366, 1948, 84 pp. 

27. Brazil. Annuario Mineral Brasileiro. DNPM, Brasilia, v. 11, 
1982, p. 258. 

28. Davidoff, R. L. Supply Analysis Model (SAM): A Minerals 
Availability System Methodology. BuMines IC 8820, 1980, 45 pp. 

29. Clement, G. K., Jr., R. L. Miller, P. A. Seibert, L. Avery, and 
H. Bennett. Capital and Operating Cost Estimating System Manual 
for Mining and Beneficiation of Metallic and Nonmetallic Minerals 
Except Fossil Fuels in the United States and Canada. BuMines 
Spec. Publ., 1980, 149 pp. 

30. Zhaoyang, H., and Y. Yangtang. Development and Utiliza- 
tion of Industrial Minerals in China. Met. Bull. (London), May 1984, 
pp. HZ1-HZ13. 

31. Industrial Minerals (London). Minerals in the News. No. 180, 
Sept. 1982, p. 15. 



39 



APPENDIX A.— SENSITIVITY ANALYSES, ECONOMICS OF ALABAMA FLAKE GRAPHITE 

DEPOSITS 



The Alabama flake graphite deposits could be developed 
with various options. All prior discussion of the economics 
of extracting and processing of the Alabama ores should be 
considered as a "best case" economic scenario with the 
following operational parameters: (1) 2-stage flotation, (2) 
a to 1.0 waste-to-ore ratio, (3) an overall weighted-average 
grade of 3.7 pet C, and (4) f.o.b. mill price determinations. 
The total production cost for total graphite production 
(graphite A plus graphite B) was estimated at $767.24/mt 
of product, including a 15-pct DCFROR. 

It has been noted that all four of the operational fac- 
tors cited above also have a "worst case" aspect that reflects 
the major variables involved both in the available data and 
in the eventual operational aspects should they be 
developed. As a result, this section compares the economics 
of the "best case" scenario with the "worst case" scenario. 
The "worst case" scenario includes the following operational 
parameters: (1) four-stage flotation, (2) a 1.5 to 1.0 waste- 
to-ore ratio, (3) an overall weighted-average grade of 2.8 pet 
C (25 pet lower than for best case), and (4) a c.i.f. New Jersey 
price determination. 

Table A-l summarizes the production cost variations for 
total graphite products due to these changes. At a 15-pct 
DCFROR, the added transportation cost increases the pro- 
duction cost by $62/mt or 8 pet. The increased stripping ratio 



and the additional flotation stages added $95/mt or 12 pet. 
The increased stripping ratio, added flotation stages, and 
the decrease in the mill feed grade all result in a $383/mt 
(50-pct) increase to the total production cost. Overall, the 
four parameter changes made in the "worst case" scenario 
result in a total increase of $440/mt, or 57 pet, from 
$767.24/mt for the "best case" to $l,207.42/mt for the "worst 
case". This indicated range of total production cost 
estimates is probably a reasonable reflection of the relative 
economics of the Alabama flake graphite deposits. 

Table A-1 .—Summary of sensitivity analyses for economics of 
Alabama flake graphite deposits, at a 15-pct DCFROR 



Operational scenario 



Cost, 
$/mt 



Difference from best 
case 



Cost, $/mt 



pet 



Best case 767.24 

Plus transportation 1 829.53 

Plus 4-stage flotation and 

higher stripping ratio 1 . . . 862.76 

Plus 4-stage flotation, 

higher stripping ratio, 

and lower grade 1,150.34 

Plus 4-stage flotation, 

higher stripping ratio, 

lower grade, and 

transportation 1 1,207.42 

NAp Not applicable. 1 c.i.f. New Jersey. 



NAp 
62 

95 



383 



440 



NAp 
8 

12 



50 



57 



40 



APPENDIX B.— MAJOR CPEC FLAKE GRAPHITE PRODUCERS 



CHINA 

Based on estimates, China is the largest world producer 
of natural graphite. In 1983, its production of all types of 
natural graphite was estimated to be 185,000 mt, or about 
34.4 pet of total world production. No breakdown of China's 
natural graphite production into flake and amorphous is 
available, which is unfortunate. As an example, if only 25 
pet of China's production was of the flake variety, the coun- 
try would be producing about 46,000 mt/yr of flake graphite, 
a value that represents about 59.0 pet of the total estimated 
1983 MEC production of marketable flake and high- 
crystalline products (78,000 mt/yr). 

As of the early to mid-1980's, approximately 70 pet of 
China's total flake and amorphous graphite production was 
being used for domestic consumption, with the other 30 pet 
exported to Japan, the United States, Italy, and France (3). 1 
China exported an estimated 31,912 mt of flake products 
to Japan and approximately 4,174 mt to the United States 
in 1984 (3); this indicates a minimum Chinese flake pro- 
ducton of at least 36,086 mt/yr. One published estimate 
stated that China exported a total of 55,000 to 60,000 mt 
of flake products in 1984, which would indicate that more 
like 30 to 33-pct of China's total production is flake graphite. 

Another source has stated that 92.2 pet of the natural 
graphite output in China comes from surface mines and 7.8 
pet from underground mines (36, p. 4). Reports in the 
literature indicate that expansions are planned for the Lin- 
mao Mine, near Jixi in Heilongjiang, which has been in pro- 
duction for 40 yr, as well as at the Nanshu flake graphite 
mine near Laixi in Shandong Province and at a small mine 
near Haikou on the island of Hainun Dao. Two underground 
mines are located at Paushi and at Lutang in Hunan Pro- 
vince (30, p. 5). 

Demonstrated resources of graphite in China could be 
very large. In Heilongjiang Province alone, 14 graphite 
deposits are reported, with 1 occurrence near Jixi City 
reportedly containing 300 Mmt of surface-minable material 
(31) and another large deposit located in the Heling area 
of Boli County. Even though known to be large, no estimates 
of graphite resources in China can be found at present that 
make an attempt to differentiate flake from amorphous 
graphite resources. Because of its major presence in the in- 
ternational markets for flake graphite, more study and data 
on China's graphite resources are required, especially 
regarding the proportion of flake material in China's pro- 
duction values and resources. 

U.S.S.R. 

Bureau estimates of U.S.S.R. production for the 1980-84 
period (3) have ranged from 77,000 to 88,000 mt/yr of 
graphite products, with an average of 85,000 mt/yr for the 
5-yr period. No estimates as to specific amorphous and flake 
production during this time period have been given; 
however, indications are that the split is around 75 pet flake 
and 25 pet amorphous. 

The following information represents a summarization 
of backup data compiled by Dr. U. Kraus of the Interna- 
tional Strategic Minerals Inventory Group, who kindly pro- 
vided access to the data: 

'Italic numbers in parentheses refer to items in the list of references 
preceding the appendixes. 



Flake graphite resources in the Soviet Union are known 
to exist in the Kuldzhuktau area in Uzbekistan, the Zavalye 
Mine in Ukraine, the Khingan-Bureya mining district in 
the Soyuznoye area near the Chinese border, and the 
Boyarsk area near Lake Baikal, which reportedly contains 
an enormous low-grade disseminated flake resource. Vein 
and disseminated graphite also occurs at Botogolsk in the 
mountain region near Mongolia. 

The Kuldzhuktau area contains three major mining 
operations— Taskazgan, Soyuznoye and Staro-Krymskoye. 
The Taskazgan Mine could have inferred resources of 7 to 
13 Mmt at 11 pet C. 

The geology of Taskazgan is associated with the Bel 
Tansk lopolite (covering an outcrop surface of 12 km 2 ) and 
intruded limestone. The gabbroic intrusive body contains 
disseminated sulfides, especially near contacts with the 
limestones where the main graphite mineralization occurs. 

There are two types of host rocks that result in two dif- 
ferent kinds of ore. The carbonate ore (garnet, pyroxene, 
wollastonite, and graphite) is reportedly easy to beneficiate 
to graphite concentrates of 83 to 85 pet. The gabbroic ore 
(forsterite, perovskite, and graphite) contains argillaceous 
matter and is reportedly difficult to beneficiate. 

Soviet sources state that the Boyarsk area deposits, con- 
sisting of disseminated flakes in graphite-biotite-schist host 
rocks, are favorable for future development. The area has 
"huge" resources of graphite at 5 pet C, and pilot tests sup- 
posedly have shown that a concentrate of 94.7 pet C and 
3.9 pet ash can be produced. 

The Zavalye producing operations in the Ukraine are 
located 70 km northwest of Pervomaysk on the left side of 
the Yuzhnyy Bug River. This open pit mine has been ac- 
tive since 1928 and is reported to have the capability of pro- 
ducing 60,000 mt/yr of flake products. Identified resources, 
which may represent resources for the entire Ukraine, 
reportedly total 38 Mmt at 6.5 pet C. 

The Soyuzuoye area contains the mining district of 
Khingan-Bureya, which is 443 km west of Khabarovsk and 
adjacent to the Chinese border. Disseminated graphite 
flakes are contained in schists and limestones; the zone of 
deposits supposedly extends up to 12 km long with grades 
of 18 to 20 pet C in four separate seams. Total resources 
could be as much as 8.2 Mmt at 15 to 20 pet C. 

Botogolsk, an underground mine in the Sayan-Tunginsk 
mountain range near the border of Mongolia, is reported 
to produce 900 mt/yr of hand-sorted ore. The mine was 
discovered in 1838 and production started in 1840. 
Metamorphosed schists, quartzites, and limestones contain- 
ing graphitic carbon have been intruded by granites, 
syenites, and basic rocks. Amorphous graphite occurs in 
veins in nepheline syenites at grades of 60 to 70 pet C; 
disseminated flake deposits of 24 to 42 pet C are also pre- 
sent. Production of the extremely high quality graphite was 
resumed in 1978-79, after a long idle period, with access 
from a 2,060-m adit and mining by backfilling methods. 

Tayginsk, located in the Urals, 12 to 14 km south of 
Kyshtym, reportedly produced 389,000 mt of ore in 1964 
averaging 7 pet C. In 1973 the ore grade was reported to 
be much lower, ranging from 2.0 to 4.3 pet C, and indica- 
tions were that the deposit was near depletion even though 
resources of 2.16 Mmt were stated to be available in 1972. 

Total flake graphite resources in the Soviet Union could 
range from approximately 55 Mmt at the demonstrated 
level to an additional 40 to 50 Mmt at the inferred level. 



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